The Story of Kasumi Shitoyaka
by MagoMago
Summary: Kasumi Shitoyaka has just arrived in Tokyo. Due to some unknown actions, she was accepted into the Seigaku male tennis team. What will happen when the all-boys club meets their first girl? OOCx many characters and Short chapters warning, OC is Mary Sue
1. Prologue : Impression

Beforehand:

The large, elegantly decorated ballroom was filled with a crowd of finely dressed ladies and gentlemen. Among this crowd stood a young girl who was a bit short for her age of twelve looking quite uncomfortable. As the couples continued to busy themselves with refreshments and appetizers, she seemed to be, if it could be put any more bluntly, bored.

However, she then approached a tall adolescent male with an intriguingly different tone of golden brown hair. A pair of glasses was perched on his nose bridge, and he had a very intimidating aura. She held out her hand and politely introduced herself as Kasumi Shitoyaka. The teen, who was unaware of her presence, briskly shook her small hand, introducing himself. Kasumi then smiled, stating that it was a pleasure meeting him, then walked back into the crowd. There she stopped at an elderly, yet still quite appealing man in a tan suit standing in the corner.

"Well, my dear Kasumi, what have you learned so far?" he asked with a gentle yet strong voice. Kasumi closed her eyes, knitting her eyebrows with a much focused expression reflected on her face. She then looked back at him, revealing the dark brown, piercing eyes that set such an impression to people she would later on meet.

"Tezuka Kunimitsu. Around 15 years of age, therefore around 9th grade. Approximately 58 kilograms. 179 centimeters tall. Probably born in October. From the school Seishun Gakuen. Plays tennis. There seems to be a problem in his left arm, though," she finished, looking at the old man questioningly.

The man laughed heartily then placed his hand on her shoulder. "That's the granddaughter I trained," he said, smiling.

* * *

"Honorable grandfather, why do you choose to enroll me in this school?" Kasumi asked her grandfather. Kyo Shitoyaka chuckled. He then answered, "I think your parents would have wanted that."

The man swiftly turned the wheel and the car smoothly made a right turn. She sighed. Sometimes her grandfather's reasons were hard to understand. "But Honorable Grandfa-"

He quickly braked the car, lunging Kasumi into the chair in front of her. She ended her sentence with an "Oof!" Her grandfather sighed. "You've been under my custody for over three years now. At least call me something more casual like 'grandpa'." Kasumi apologized quickly, bowing her head. Unfortunately, she bumped into the front seat again. "Ow!" she exclaimed. He laughed as he flawlessly parked in the new driveway.

Kasumi looked out. "This is our new house?" She studied it closely. It was of fairly new quality, sturdy material, three floors, and a backyard with what appears to be a pool. A sakura tree that just bloomed adorned the front porch. A cool spring breeze blew her brown hair up. Kasumi closed her eyes to appreciate it then went to the car to carry the luggage in.

Kasumi was not used to life in Tokyo. Born in America, she had only used Japanese at home. When she was moved to her grandfather's care, he urged her to study the language of her heritage thoroughly. He had also made her study German, which was where they lived before, so she could pursue a medical scholorship. Youngest to graduate, and a bright student, Kasumi was extremely past your ordinary teenager. But her grandfather had told her that attending a regular middle school with people her age would train her social skills. She never doubted Kyo's opinions, but she felt uneasy about it, an emotion that she had never quite understood before.

Her grandfather had come out of the school's office, looking quite pleased with himself. "Well," he said, "I've registered you and everything. They say you can start school on Monday."

He handed her a plastic bag with a green outfit in it. Kasumi took it and stared at the cuffs and collar. "So this is a school uniform?" she asked. The old man patted her on the back. "We should go shopping for your supplies." She nodded hesitantly.

"And don't forget to bring your tennis bag to school as well. I want you to talk to the tennis coach. She's an old friend of mine."


	2. Chapter 1 : Acceptance

Kasumi woke up on Monday morning rather grumpily. It wasn't like her, but she didn't really feel it necessary to go to her new school. Deftly, she changed from her nightgown to her new uniform then walked to the bathroom to examine it. The skirt was short, in her opinion, and she felt embarrassed about wearing it on a daily basis.

Kasumi smelled something pleasant from the kitchen below. There, her grandfather was happily flipping what seemed to be an egg on a piece of toast. As she made her way to her chair, he tossed the bread and it landed squarely on the plate in front of her. "Nice one, grandfather," she remarked with deep admiration in her tone. He did a clumsy bow, knocking over a tea kettle. Before Kasumi could say something, he caught it with his left foot then placed it back on the stove.

"Stop looking at me and eat so you can go to school," he said sternly, but with a grin plastered on his face, "It'll give the teachers a bad impression if you come to class late on your first day."

Kasumi quickly swallowed the last of her crust, and slipped on her large sports bag, filled with her tennis equipment and her school supplies. It seemed much bigger than her, but the bag weighed lighter than it looked. She put on her shoes at the front steps then called back, "I'm going, grandfather!"

Kasumi walked down a narrow street that she believed to be the way her grandfather had driven her a few days ago when they were to register her. The neighborhood was very calming, with many cherry blossoms adorning the sidewalk. She walked past a large house with a temple-like structure in the back. Interesting, she thought as she walked past, maybe I should visit it sometime.

After a while she realized she forgot which way her grandfather had turned. She kept calm, knowing that anxiety would cloud her judgment.

"Let's see," she said to herself, "People in this neighborhood should be headed the same way I am, so I should be seeing students with my school uniform..." She looked around, and finally saw a pair of girls that were wearing the same outfit as her. One had two side pigtails, and was speaking extremely loud to the other, which had outrageously long hair tied into two neat braids on the back of her head.

Kasumi kept a distance from them, hoping to not cast their attention to her. The girl seemed to be talking about something, maybe plans of some sort. Being curious, she sped up a little closer. "...And I was thinking we could make a cake for Ryoma-sama and the team!" she said excitedly.

"Umm..." the other one said uncertainly, "...it's not a bad idea, but isn't it a little troublesome?"

The loud one hit the other hard in the back with her hand. "Sakuno! Don't say that! You're baking is great! I tried one, and they're top notch!"

Then she drew closer as to whisper. "And it's for Ryoma-sama too, right?" The shy one flustered at the idea, and Kasumi noticed that her ears were a shade pink. Kasumi smiled to herself.

It seemed that this Ryoma person was pretty popular among them.

* * *

Kasumi stood outside the classroom door as the teacher instructed her to. "Wait out here until I can calm the class down. Then I'll introduce you," he had said. Kasumi felt her stomach flutter. She didn't know why she was so nervous. Was it because they were all her age? Was it because she was afraid? No, she thought to herself, I can't be scared.

The door opened. The teacher ushered her in. She glided in and turned to the class. Sure enough, her classmates were all the same age as her. They made her feel even more uncomfortable.

"Class," the teacher said, "I'd like you all to meet Kasumi Shitoyaka-san. She's not from around here. If a bit of extra credit interests any of you..."

She noticed most of the class perked up at this except one. He looked extremely sleepy and uninterested in everything around him. His golden brown eyes was barely focused on the floor, yet alone her. Something about this relieved her, knowing one person didn't care to see her.

"... it'd be nice to show Shitoyaka-san around." He motioned her to a seat near the windows. She timidly skipped over and sat down.

Kasumi struggled to keep her eyes open. She knew it was disrespectful, but in her view it was pointless. She was raised in America, and she already knew English.

Everyone else seemed to be working hard in this class, except that one guy again.

He showed more interest in watching dust coat on the ground rather than the textbook he was laying his face on.

Kasumi switched her attention to the window on her left. It was a perfect spring day; pure blue skies, and the merrily shining sun. She watched the fluff-like bodies of clouds, wondering what the birds sounded like outside...

"Shitoyaka!" Kasumi jerked back. The teacher glared at her, slapping a pointer on his hand. Some students also turned to look.

"Since you think the window is more important than my lesson," he said with a mock grandeur, "I guess you don't mind doing the entire lesson on the board." The class murmured. Kasumi sighed. She was going to hear about this at home.

She pushed back her chair to stand then walked up to the front. "I would be honored to, sensei. But may I be so bold to inquire the usage of one of your textbooks?"

The teacher did not know how to respond to this. Was she acting fresh with him, or was it sincere respect? He handed her the textbook. She flipped through it delicately, as if it were some ancient text. Kasumi then picked up a piece of chalk, placing the tip on the smooth surface of the blackboard.

Witnesses didn't see what happened next. It was reported that her hand flew across the board, the chalk a white blur in her hand. The chapter began to materialize on the board, alongside them were answers. After a few long minutes, the board was complete filled. Jaws dropped, the teacher mustered enough to say, "Umm...Sh-Shitoyaka...y-you can s-sit down n-now..." She placed the book neatly on the sensei's cluttered desk, and obediently sat back down.

"Wow! I still can't believe it!" Tomoka said for the umpteenth time.

She was the girl with pigtails Kasumi had secretly used to find a way to school. Her shy friend, the one with braids, was there too, trying to make her loud friend calm down. Her name was Sakuno Ryuzaki. Her last name sounded familiar to Kasumi. Maybe her grandfather knew someone with that name.

It was lunchtime, and Tomoka had literally dragged Kasumi to where she and some of her friends were eating. Seated with them were three other boys. One had bowl-cut hair, and his name was Kachiro. He was considerably small for his age, Kasumi registered. Next to him was a taller boy with a somewhat shaved head. His name was Katsuo. The two seemed to be quiet in nature, but they were very friendly.

The last one, however, couldn't be farther away from that. With eyebrows that joined together at the middle, Horio was as annoying as Tomoka. Kasumi had a random thought that the two of them should become a couple, and set a record for the most arguments in a marriage. Horio had insisted that Kasumi cheated, copying the answer sheet that the teacher was holding the whole time. It was the latter fact that he had failed to accompany in his claim. Since the two were creating a disturbance of what should be a peaceful break between classes, Kasumi finally told them both to argue it after school.

Kasumi now reached into the front pocket of her tennis bag and pulled out a bento box, placed it on the table in front of her, and lifted the cover off.

Her bento looked like a tennis court. There was rice on the bottom with meats and vegetables, hidden by a thin sheet of seaweed. Single strands of noodles were used to create the lines of the court. In the middle of this court was not a miniature net (which mildly disappointed Kasumi), but an egg yolk designed to resemble a tennis ball. She tried to eat it before it drew any attention, but to no avail.

"You play tennis?" Horio asked, staring at the painstakingly made bento. She covered her face with her hair and nodded quickly, replying with a mumbled "Do you?"

She regretted this dearly, because when hearing this, Horio straightened up in his chair, folded his arms, and announced, "Yes. As a matter of fact, I've had two years of tennis experience!"

Katsuo whispered, "And it still didn't help at all." Kasumi lifted a napkin to her face and concealed a laugh with a cough.

* * *

After lunch, the group she was with quickly left to where they said was the tennis courts. Kasumi tried to follow them, but she lost sight of them once she had stepped foot outside. She wandered around aimlessly, hoping that something or someone would help her.

Finally, when she was about to lose hope, she heard it: the familiar sound. Pock. Pock. It was a tennis ball meeting a racket, she just knew it. She hurried to the source of the sound and found what she was looking for.

There were courts aligned side-by-side, and on each one of them was a match. Kasumi saw Tomoka and Sakuno on the outskirts of the courts, behind the fence. Sakuno was desperately trying to calm her friend down, who apparently was cheering something like, "GO RYOMA-SAMA!" Kasumi felt sorry for whoever this Ryoma character was, knowing that Tomoka was just extremely a pain in the-

She decided to watch one of the matches going on. Her eyes focused on the far left court. Here stood a boy, who Kasumi predicted to be one year her senior that wore a green bandana on his head. His expression implied that he was pissed, and he made strange hissing noises. On the other half was another guy, about the same age, with his hair somewhat spiked up.

"Hey, Mamushi," he called out to the bandana guy, "Are you too scared to get serious with me?" He looked even angrier and yelled back, "Shut up!" He curved his racket and hit the ball in a different motion that what Kasumi would have anticipated. The ball bounced into the court, and swerved around. It was completely out of her conception. Suddenly remembering why she came, Kasumi turned to Sakuno, who had now given up on taming Tomoka. "Where's the tennis coach?" she asked. Realizing that the question was directed to her, Sakuno jumped up involuntarily.

Regaining her composure, she pointed to a figure who was on the right gate of the courts wearing a pink outfit. Kasumi thanked her and began to approach her. Pock. Pock. "Out." Kasumi said aloud. Sure enough, the small felt clump whizzed passed the line of the court. As she passed, she didn't hear the boy in the white cap mutter "show-off".

* * *

Ryoma adjusted his hat then bounced the ball several times on the grass court. After a couple of them, he threw the ball overhead. As he hit the ball, he flicked his right hand. The ball landed in the service area, then curved away from expected. His sempai, who had tan hair, roared "GODDAMN!" Ryoma, rather satisfied, said to his sempai, "Mada mada dane." As he said this, he didn't hear the new student with brown hair and eyes say to herself "Show-off."


	3. Chapter 2 : Meet the Regulars

Kasumi made her way to the pink-clad woman. She opened the gate to the courts. As she entered, she heard a "Look out!"

Instinctively, she moved sideways, moved her hand like a racket, and caught the ball. She threw it back to the person that had yelled at her. He had a green sports headband and brown hair. His skin was somewhat tan as well.

"What's a girl doing in the courts?" he called out to another of his friends, she guessed. Kasumi quietly slipped passed them and walked up to who she originally had come for.

"Excuse me?"

The woman turned around. She looked stern, but must've had some sort of good side to her, like her grandfather.

"You're a new face around here. Well, what do you want?" The woman didn't say this with an accusation in her tone, but Kasumi felt a bit insulted. She took out an envelope that her grandfather told her to show. "I'm supposed to give this to you." she said humbly. The woman's eyebrows were raised with curiosity as she took the letter from Kasumi.

She opened it quickly and pulled out the paper from inside. Her eyes scanned the paper. "Ha!" she cried, then said, "Alright everyone, listen up!" At that moment, everyone had stopped their matches. Slowly, they formed a rather military-like formation, with players in jackets in front, blue outfit people in the back, and from what Kasumi could narrow down, the freshmen she ate with in the back.

The woman announced, "Everyone, this is Kasumi Shitoyaka. She is the granddaughter of a friend of mine." Kasumi bowed, mumbling that it was a pleasure to meet their acquaintances. However, she was pulled up forcibly by the woman's hand. She said, "You don't have to be all formal out here." Then she turned to everybody. "The reason I'm saying this is because she will now be the first girl player on the Seigaku Male Tennis Club."

"WHAT?!"

The crowd of boys in blue began to whisper to each other furiously. The freshmen in the back looked at each other in disbelief. "But coach," someone said. Everyone turned to look at the person that had accidentally hit the ball at Kasumi before. "How is that possible? She needs registration, and the school wouldn't allow her to-"

"Arai."

The woman took the piece of paper that her grandfather's handwriting was on and pinched it slightly. The paper flipped, revealing a second paper. She waved it around. "Her forms are right here." The quiet disagreements began again. The woman began to continue reading the letter, smiling. Then her eyes got wide. "Everyone, quiet." They obeyed.

"It also says here," the coach continued, "That he requests that Kasumi can have a match with one of our regulars."

"No way!"

Kasumi recognized Horio right away. "Today's her first day, and she already sets history? And besides, she's still a freshman, like us!" He gestured to Kachiro and Katsuo. The coach ignored them, and said, "You can call me Coach Ryuzaki." Hmm, Kasumi thought, that's why Sakuno's name was familiar. "Anyways, I guess you can come here and meet our regulars." Ryuzaki ushered Kasumi towards the front row of players.

She found herself in front of a red-head with a bandage on his face, although the skin around it didn't seem to be damaged in any way. His eyes were wide and he had a goofy smile on. He leaned down a little until their noses almost touched. After staring for a few seconds, he said, "Ehh!" Before she could react, Kasumi found that the boy was pinching her cheeks.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" she cried.

"She's soooo CUUUUTEEEE!!" he said, moving her cheeks around. "Sempai..please stop it...this hurts..." Kasumi said feebly.

"Eiji!" one of the regulars said with concern. He looked almost bald, except with two pieces of hair on his forehead. "Stop it! You're really giving a bad impression!" Eiji looked up then back at Kasumi. Her cheeks were pink. "Oh, sorry!" he said, letting her go. She rubbed her cheeks woefully. "I'm Eiji Kikumaru, but you can call me Eiji like the rest do!"

She quickly shook her head. "I can't. That'd be disrespectful..." He looked sad. "Nonsense, even O-chibi calls me by that!" He turned to a kid in a white cap for some sign of approval. Kasumi realized that it was the guy who couldn't stay awake in class. "Eiji-sempai, I think you should drop it." Eiji looked at Kasumi again. He put his had on his chin.

"Hmm..." Finally, he said, "Aha!" He put his hands on his hips. "Fine! From now on, as a sempai, I order you to call me Eiji!" "Yes, Eiji-sempai!" Kasumi said without thinking. The red-head Eiji looked very relieved.

She moved onto the next regular in line. It was the one who had told Kikumaru-sempai to stop. He offered his hand. Kasumi hesitantly shook it. "Sorry about that," he said apologetically, "My name is Oishi Shuichiro." "That's alright." she said, not wanting to make her sempai feel bad. However, it was not alright, as she tried to make her cheeks regain circulation.

The one to the right was a queer looking guy. He had shot up hair, which was unkempt. His glasses were extremely thick. Kasumi felt dizzy trying to see his eyes. Instead of introducing himself, he was mumbling something like, "About 142 cm...Sturdy legs..." "Umm, excuse me?" He finally stopped writing in his notebook. "Oh, right. Sadaharu Inui." Then he went back to writing. She was happy to move along.

This one had light tan hair. He was smiling warmly at her, and that made her feel more comfortable. "Hi. I'm Syuusuke Fuji." He offered his hand. "Nice to meet you, sempai," she answered back.

She moved to the next regular. She remembered that he was the one that had yelled "GODDAMN!" before. "Umm...I'm Takashi Kawamura..." he said nervously. How, Kasumi thought, could someone that was so shy yell so loud? She would probably never know.

When she was at the next sempai, she saw that it was the one with a bandanna from before. She remembered that he had been called 'mamushi', which Kasumi vaguely translated as 'Viper'. He wasn't facing her. Rather, he had his back turned to her. "Kaidoh Kaoru. Whatever."

"Hey, hey, hey!" The person next to him, who she remembered was his opponent before, interjected. "Why are ya being so cold, mamushi? Are you s-c-a-r-e-d?" He made a show of relishing every syllable. Kaidoh whirled around, grabbing the other one with spiked up hair by the collar of his shirt.

"What'd you say?" he hissed angrily. "You wanna fight, mamushi?" the other one said, with equal aggression. "Let's go!" Their eyes were locked in an intense glare, and Kasumi could do nothing but bear witness. "Sempai-tachi, please stop!" The two finally looked away from each other and at Kasumi. Then Kaidoh dropped the other person and muttered, "We could finish this after school." The other one replied under his breath, "If you don't run away."

Kaidoh-sempai roared, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

"Stop!" Kasumi cried again, this time forgetting manners, but just having a sudden desperation to prevent any violence. They stopped to look at her again then faced opposite directions from each other with folded arms. Kasumi felt guilty about yelling at people whom she had barely met. "Forgive me, sempai-tachi," she said, bowing.

The regular that she had not learned the name of smiled stupidly. "Nah, don't worry! We do that all the time!" Kasumi didn't know whether to feel relieved or shocked. "Anyway, I'm Takeshi Momoshiro, but you can call me Momo-chan." Kasumi shook her head again. "No, no, no!" she said exasperatedly, "That's worse than Eiji-sempai!"

Momo folded his arms at her then said, "Do you want me to do the same thing Eiji-sempai did?" Kasumi was causing too much of a ruckus. "No, Momo-chan-sempai," she muttered, compromising. Worn out from those few moments, Kasumi walked ahead.

She realized it was her classmate, the one that couldn't stay awake in any class. "Ryoma Echizen," he said with eyes half closed, showing no sign of interest. She replied with the same scale of unenthusiastic-ness.

"Pleasure to meet you too, Echizen-sempai." Kasumi thought she heard Eiji-sempai hiccup. "She called O-chibi 'sempai'." He said with a snicker. Finally, Kasumi stood in front of an old acquaintance she knew.

"It's an honor, Captain Tezuka." He shook her offered hand like before, shaking it briefly. "We've met before," he said, not as a question, but as a stated fact. "Ehh?" Kasumi turned to see Kikumaru looking with wide-eyed curiosity. "Tezuka-buchou met kawaii-chibi-chan before?" Kasumi blushed at the newly acquired nickname, believing it was childish. Tezuka ignored him, and addressed the rest of the tennis club.

"Non-regulars," his commanding tone projected, "Back to what you were doing." The others reluctantly left. Horio gave Kasumi a mean look. Finally, Kasumi found herself with nine jersey wearers and a middle-aged woman. "So," Ryuzaki said, "Who wants to be so kind as to have a match with Kasumi?" The teens looked at one another, none of them looking volunteer-like material. The coach sighed. "Fine," she said, "I'll pick one of you." She scanned the sempais then said, "Ryoma."

"What?" All the regulars turned to Echizen, who was covering his eyes with the visor of his cap. "But why me?" he said indifferently.

"You're the idlest of all of the regulars here, so this will be a good wake-up call." Sumire nodded to herself. A match with someone raised by Kyo Shitoyaka would be what the lazy kid deserved, but all the sempais, not knowing, were telling Kasumi "good luck". Momoshiro went to Echizen and said, "Don't go too hard on her, Echizen."

Then he lowered his voice, leaning closer to Ryoma. "And hey," he said, "Don't you think she's kinda cute?" Momo elbowed Echizen's rib cage. Ryoma knew what his sempai was implying, and simply ignored him, walking towards an empty court.


	4. Chapter 3 : A Duel With The Prince

The two entered the empty grass court, meeting at the net. Kasumi, who had changed into her tennis outfit, offered her hand as a "let's have a good game" gesture, but her sempai didn't accept, or even notice it.

Ryoma placed his racket on the ground and said, "Which?" "Rough," she said. He spun his racket. The red racket twirled around for a few seconds, then landed face up. "Smooth," Echizen said indifferently.

Kasumi began walking to the receiving position, but then looked back to see a tennis ball whiz towards her. She caught it then looked at Echizen questioningly. "You serve first." Ryoma said with a bored tone. Not bad, Kasumi thought. Her sempai knew if he let her serve first, he could analyze her play style, and counter it. But to destroy that logic, she said to herself, I just have to use a different style.

Kasumi strode to the corner of the singles court then faced the net from there.

"Shitoyaka versus Echizen. Shitoyaka to serve."

She gripped the felt of the ball, bouncing it thrice. Then, she took a deep breath, threw it up into the air, and smacked it down with her racket. The ball flew to the service area then went up again. Echizen was there, and he hit it back with a forehand from his right. Kasumi scurried to the center line then hit a slice headed towards the left. Her sempai seemed to have magically appear there, and returned it effortlessly with a backhand topspin. Now was her chance.

She swung her left hand hard, but then stopped right before contact. Then, Kasumi swung with an intense speed. But since it seemed that she had hit a drop shot, the ball barely made a sound. Echizen, thinking this, ran to the ball and hit it. His arm swung too early, and the ball swerved off to the gate. "Out," the referee said, "Fifteen, love."

Kasumi took out another tennis ball. She flung it above her head then smashed it. The ball was extremely fast, but Kasumi knew her sempai had extremely sharp eyes. Sure enough, Ryoma had predicted the ball's course of movement, and positioned himself in front of it to deflect. Pock. The ball zoomed across the court as a corner shot. Kasumi ran at an amazing speed and returned it, barely.

"She's fast." Kasumi heard Momo-chan-sempai comment to Fuji. Fuji's eyes were still closed, and he was still smiling. "Yeah," he said back. Then Fuji opened his eyes to reveal sharp blue eyes. Kasumi would have never guessed that he looked like that, but she needed to focus on Ryoma now.

She barely had enough time to see that Echizen had jumped up and smashed the ball. Kasumi jumped back and tried to return it, but the sheer force of it was too much, so she moved her racket up to drop the ball. "Fifteen all!"

"Neh," Kasumi heard Eiji-sempai say to Oishi, "Is O-chibi getting serious?" Oishi shook his head and replied, "I don't know." Kasumi did a soft serve that barely got over the net. Echizen ran forward and lobbed high. Darn, Echizen said to himself, but it was too late. Kasumi had jumped to smash. She flipped in mid-air, spinning her racket around with her then hit the ball. The ball became a blur as it passed Echizen. A small indent was left in the grass. "Thirty, fifteen."

Momoshiro looked at Fuji and asked, "Hey, did you just see that?" Fuji was frowning, making him look completely opposite of what he looked like when Kasumi had introduced herself. "Yeah, I did." Inui was scribbling furiously in his small notebook, muttering, something like, "...and by using the velocity of the flip, increasing the power of the smash..." Kikumaru was clutching the wire of the fence. "Wow!" he said excitedly, "Kawaii-chibi-chan can flip like me!"

Kasumi served. Ryoma returned, but it was a heavy shot. Kasumi was forced to lob, and that was her mistake. Ryoma, like her, went into the air, twisted up his body then uncoiled it sharply to send the ball back down. Kasumi rushed to send it back, but her racket flew out of her hand. The silver racket fell on the grass next to the tennis ball.

"There it is!" Kasumi hear Horio. "Cyclone Smash!" Katsuo and Kachiro said together. "Thirty all." Kawamura said, "They seem to be pretty even."

The next volley was long. Both players made sure to not make openings for smashes. Kasumi felt beads of sweat forming on her forehead. This is what I get for not warming up, she scolded to herself. Echizen didn't seem tired at all. Kasumi didn't like feeling underestimated. She hit the ball with all her might, but the ball sounded like it was tapped lightly. Again, Ryoma had gone to hit it, but again the ball unexpectedly went out. "Forty, thirty."

Kasumi went to pick up the ball. The ball was beginning to lose some felt. She bounced it a couple of times to see if it was still worthy of continuing. It was still good, but it bounced a few inches lower than one would expect. Regardless, she served it. Echizen fore handed it and it flew to her left. She ran and tapped it back with the tip of her silver racket. It feebly went across, and was easily returned. Kasumi took her racket, placed it in front of her with the face towards her then slid the racket parallel to the ball.

The ball spun across to Ryoma's court, but once it hit the ground, it did a small hop then spun like a top. Once the ball stopped, the referee finally had enough sense to say, "Game, Shitoyaka. Echizen to serve."

"What was that?" The regulars were staring in disbelief, except Inui, who was still writing in his book. Ryoma kept his surprise in, maintaining his cool composure, then took the ball and threw it to the ground a few times. Pock, pock, pock. He caught it, threw it above then flicked his wrist as he made contact with the ball.

It spun wildly, and Kasumi saw. She didn't know what to do, or even what it was. She went to where the ball was to land, positioned to hit it. But once the ball hit the ground, it came up towards her face. She moved out of her way, and she heard the ball fly passed her left ear. "Fifteen, love."

Kasumi stared at the ball, which had rolled off to the side. Did it just change directions? "Here I go." Echizen said, throwing the ball again. Kasumi snapped out of her thoughts and went back to the game. The ball was spinning the same way. She went to the opposite side of the ball, and as it shot away from her, she returned it. "Not bad," Ryoma called as he went to return it. Kasumi couldn't appreciate the compliment, because she had jumped to hit a ball that was out of her reach. Again, she hit it on the edge. Echizen returned it without hesitation. Kasumi quickly stood up and ran to the other side of the court.

She managed to scoop the ball up with her racket in a sweeping motion, but uprooting a clump of grass in the process. She gasped. Don't hit sempai, she prayed. Luckily, the dirt ball didn't make it past the net. Kasumi sighed in relief, but was then forced to run to the right side of the court again. She made it there early, and slid her racket under the ball carefully on a specific angle. The ball fell like a drop shot, then went in a circle the size of a large trampoline, then stopped dead at the net.

"What?" Kikumaru's childish voice was heard, "The ball just went in a circle!" Oishi-sempai, who was like the caretaker of Eiji-sempai, couldn't explain what had just happened. "Hey Inui," Fuji said, "That shot just now has a similar concept to Tsubame Gaeshi, right?" Inui nodded. "That's true," he said, "But unlike the Tsubame Gaeshi, it didn't go straight, but actually curved regularly to create a full circle. "How interesting." He stuck his nose back into his notebook, muttering inaudible things.

Echizen looked at the ball then asked Kasumi, "What do you call that?" Kasumi scratched her head. She had never bothered making names for her techniques. "I never name my techniques," she said sadly, "But sempai-tachi can name it if they want." All the regulars looked at each other. "How about 'Full Moon Drop'?" Everyone turned to Inui, who wasn't even looking up. Kasumi thought about it then nodded smiling. "I like that."

Then the match continued. "Fifteen all." The referee said before they started, to remind them of their scores. The two freshmen continued the volley until Kasumi used a drop shot like before. It spun perfectly horizontal, landed upright on its spinning point, hopped slightly, then continued to spin in place. "Game, Shitoyaka. Change court."

"Hey," Momo-chan-sempai said to Kikumaru, "Echizen just lost a service game!" As they passed each other on the side of the court, Ryoma asked, "Do we have to name that drop too?" Kasumi did a short laugh then nodded. "Oh! Me, me!" Kikumaru seemed overly excited about this. "I wanna name that shot!" Oishi looked troubled, but let Eiji continue. "From now on, it should be called 'dizzy drop shot'!" Kasumi almost cracked up at the name, but it did make some sense. "Fine, sempai," Kasumi said, "It'll be the Dizzy Drop Shot."

Echizen and Kasumi passed each other without side glances, but as they were headed towards their respective courts, Kasumi called out, "Hey, sempai."

"What?"

"Can you stop going easy on me?"


	5. Chapter 4 : Approved

Ryoma smirked. "And how did you figure that one out?" he asked. Kasumi felt that this was a time to prove herself. "In class," she said, "You wrote with your left hand. But now," she pointed at Echizen's right arm, "You aren't using it. The chances of someone using their dominant hand for writing are extremely high, and some tennis players have ambidextrous traits."

Kikumaru looked at Momoshiro and whispered, "Kawaii-chibi-chan just read O-chibi like a book." Momo nodded, and said, "I guess you could call it that." As Echizen walked to the receiving court, he swapped his racket into his other hand. Kasumi smiled, thanking him in her mind then switched her racket from her left to her right.

"So Shitoyaka-san isn't a southpaw after all." Fuji said with a mild surprise. Inui just scribbled something out of his book.

Kasumi served with her right hand. The ball was faster and much stronger compared to the ones she had served it before. The ball whistled through the air, landed in the service, then shot up with force. Ryoma hopped back to catch the ball with the right timing, then struck it back.

The two were at it for a while. The referee's neck hurt from watching the ball too much. Finally, Kasumi had missed the ball by a few inches. "Love, fifteen."

"Tch." Kasumi wiped the beads of sweat accumulating on her forehead with her wristband. Then, she called out to the referee, "Time out." The referee nodded then the two headed off to the side. Ryoma took a chug out of his water bottle, making sure it had his name on it, if you understand.

Kasumi went into her bag and retrieved a long silver ribbon. With it, she tied her long brown hair into a ponytail that allowed air to reach the back of her neck. She then took a brief sip of water and went back on court.

"Continue game; Shitoyaka versus Echizen. Shitoyaka to serve." Echizen noticed that Kasumi had a different attitude to her now. Her deep chestnut eyes were fiery, and she looked intent on the game. I guess she finished warming up, he thought.

Kasumi threw the ball and served it. Echizen returned. Pock. Pock. Kasumi suddenly went to the ball, stood on her right foot, spun counter-clockwise then hit the ball with her racket. The ball looked out of control, a mere streak of light as it went past Echizen's ear. "Fifteen all."

The regulars whispered amongst themselves. Fuji raised his hand. "I'd like to name that one." Everyone looked at him. He closed his eyes then smiled. "How about the 'Geisha Return'?" Kasumi thought for a moment. The regulars exchanged glances. "I don't mind. It sounds nice." Kasumi finally said. Then she took a tennis ball out of her pocket and said, "Here I go, sempai."

She served with such intensity that the ball seemed to have flattened once it touched the ground. Echizen ran and was able to return without lobbing. "When's this going to end?" Kaidoh looked rather pissed, if possible, more than he normally does. "Pay attention to this match." The regulars turned to the coach that they had almost forgotten was sitting on a bench nearby. "This match should be getting more interesting."

BOOM. The regulars whirled around to watch the court again. Echizen had just used Cyclone Smash, and Kasumi was going to pick her racket back up. Her hand was trembling. There's so much force, she thought. She then smiled slightly. Kasumi never had a match like this for a long time.

She threw the ball up high then let it fall to shoulder level before hitting it. As expected, the ball was slow. It crossed the net, and Echizen sent it back across. She returned it softly again, waiting for the right moment. Echizen, thinking that Kasumi's arm was in shock from his Cyclone Smash, continued to hit deep shots, unconsciously planning to weaken her arm.

POCK. Pock. POCK. Pock. The ball kept moving. The rally seemed endless. Finally, Kasumi swung, very hard.

The ball flew, dented the ground then came up, spinning. Echizen, who had anticipated a hard ball, tried returning it as a heavy hit. However, the ball veered down short and hit the net. "Net. Thirty, fifteen." Kawamura looked somewhat concerned. "Echizen is being pushed back." Fuji nodded, but then said, "But Echizen doesn't usually get pushed back for long."

Echizen had won that match through mess ups and strokes of luck. Kasumi resorted to lobs more often, leaving the entire back court open. Also, Kasumi had almost tripped, but she caught herself in time with her arm. Kasumi walked to the bench and wiped off her face with a towel.

Was it time yet? She looked up to the sky, and saw that the once blue sky was beginning to get cloudy. She smelled the scent of rain. But please, she prayed, let me finish my match.

She went back to the court. Echizen served strongly. Kasumi was uncertain, but she thought she had provoked her sempai. He was more serious. His eyes, for once, were fully alert. Kasumi tried to use continuous opposite corner shots, but every time, it seemed that the ball didn't want to go the direction she willed it to go. He's undermined this playing style, she concluded. That meant it was time to switch. She let the ball pass. "Thirty, love."

She took her racket out of her right hand and stretched her fingers. A small bracelet she was wearing jingled softly. Kasumi then made her hand into a fist. She was ready. Kasumi went back in a tennis stance; her knees bent, back crouched, and leaned left to right slightly.

Echizen served. She ran to the ball and smacked it with all her might. The ball was strong, and it no doubt caught Echizen by surprise. However, he was able to keep cool and returned it. She ran to the net, and used both hands to deliver another deep shot.

"Isn't that reckless?" Kikumaru looked at Oishi. "I don't know why she's suddenly switching from counter puncher to aggressive net play." Inui had, at last, stopped writing and was watching the unorthodox match.

Kasumi kept using her entire upper arm strength. Finally, she received an opening. She went up in the air and flipped. The ball was, again, too fast. "Fourty, fifteen." Good, Kasumi thought sarcastically, now I won't lose a love game.

"Six games to six. Tie-break." An hour had passed. Both were sweating and breathing heavily. The ball was tossed to Kasumi. "Shitoyaka to serve."

"This can't be possible!" Horio exclaimed, "Echizen might lose to this girl!" Katsuo and Kachiro looked at Horio with much loathing. "Horio, that's sexist." Horio looked at them awkwardly. "Since when did you care?"

Katsuo folded his arms and Kachiro looked really serious. "Discriminating people by their genders is wrong, especially in the tennis world!" Kachiro said. Katsuo piped up, "Yeah! Especially in a noble sport like tennis! We all should be treating tennis players, whether they're men or women, with equal respect." Kachiro and Katsuo suddenly gasped though.

They weren't expecting Ryuzaki coach to walk behind them. She had patted them on the back, saying "Well said." Then she went back and sat down again, probably only going to them because they were disturbing the match.

"Eighteen, Nineteen! Echizen lead. Echizen to serve!" The regulars "wowed" at the length of the match. Kasumi ran to return the ball, and Echizen continued to throw powerful hits at her. Finally, the ball zoomed passed Echizen's ear, blowing some locks of his hair upwards. Kasumi closed her eyes. It was over. "Nineteen all! Shitoyaka to se-"

The referee stopped when he saw that Kasumi was standing at the net, her hand outstretched over the net. "H-hey! The match isn't-" Kasumi sighed. "Please look again at where the ball landed." She said this without looking back. The referee, who wasn't quite used that remark as a referee, looked at the mark the ball had made as it bounced.

Sure enough, the ball had passed the boundary by a fraction of an inch. The referee cleared his throat. "Correction! Twenty to eighteen! Game, set, and match to Echizen!" Ryoma was in shock. He himself had not noticed that he had won.

He walked up to the net, and reluctantly shook her hand. "Great match, sempai." He shrugged. "Not bad." Then, as they shook hands, a boom of thunder echoed, and it began to rain.

"Everyone into the locker room!" The students scurried into the safety of the lockers. However, as Ryoma turned back to close the door, he saw Kasumi standing in the middle of the court. She was faced to the sky, her eyes closed. He could have sworn she was smiling. Her arms were opened wide, as if she was embracing the drops of water as they rapped against her skin.

"What are you doing?" Kasumi opened her eyes to see that Coach Ryuzaki had a hold of her arm. "You'll get sick in this rain!" Kasumi apologized and was dragged into the boys' locker room by the middle-aged woman. She was given a towel to dry off with and sat facing the door, as to not intrude on her sempais' privacy. But as she watched the rain fall outside, she was certain that the people she loved up there were telling her that this school was where she belonged.


	6. Chapter 5 : Introduction to Death Goop

The rain had stopped. Kasumi had almost tripped in trying to rush out of the boy's locker room. Sakuno and Tomoka had made it to the girl's locker room. However, Coach Ryuzaki had dragged her there. How embarrassing, Kasumi thought.

Classes had ended, and Kasumi was beginning to walk home when she noticed that she was walking behind Echizen-sempai. She silently followed him, although that was not her intention. Did her sempai live near her? Kasumi didn't really want to know, so she detoured left. But as she was walking this way, she saw an extremely furry cat in the middle of the road. A car was about to hit it.

Kasumi ran to the street, lunged for the cat, hugged it, and flung out of the way. The driver had quickly braked, then looked out the window and asked if she was alright. "I'm sorry about your cat." the driver said apologetically. "It's okay," Kasumi said kindly, "But this isn't my cat." The driver gave her a questioning look then drove away. Kasumi looked down at the creature in her arms. It meowed curiously, staring up at her. "What's your name, you little thing?" She felt stupid talking to a cat. The cat meowed again then began to nuzzle her shoulder. "Hey, stop that! It..." she giggled, "It tickles..."

The cat looked up at her again then pointed its paw somewhere. "Is that where you live?" Kasumi felt that this cat may be smarter than average. The cat meowed. Awkwardly, she went the way the cat had pointed. She found herself in front of the temple she had seen on her way to school. "Hey, little buddy. You live here?" "Meow" He (Kasumi guessed the cat was a male) replied.

Kasumi opened the wooden gate. She headed towards the house, and knocked on the door lightly. A woman came to answer the door. The cat leapt out of her arms and onto the woman. "Karupin!" The woman's brown hair was being playfully scratched. "I found him in the middle of a street a few blocks from here." The woman looked up at her. "Arigatou. Karupin just ran off today." Kasumi smiled, knowing she had done the right thing. Kasumi walked away, closing the wooden gate behind her, and as she turned to walk home, she didn't see the wooden block that said "ECHIZEN" near the door.

"How was your first day?" Kyomaru asked. Kasumi sat on the living room couch. "It was fine, grandfather." She looked up at the ceiling. "How'd you manage to put me in an all-boys team?" The old man chuckled. "Let's just say I knew a few people that can pull strings." Kasumi looked down to her grandfather. She could only imagine what kinds of people he knew.

"Well, who did you manage to play a match against?" Kasumi stood, and walked around. "His name was Ryoma Echizen-sempai. He's really good." She looked at her grandfather, who had his hand on his chin. "Echizen..." Kasumi's eyes widened. "Grandfather, do you know someone named Echizen?" The old man shook his head. "My aged brain can't remember, but I'm sure the Echizen I'm thinking about knew your father." Kasumi looked in disbelief. Is that even possible? "Thanks, grandfather." As she went up the stairs to her room, Kyo was mumbling. "Nanjigoh? No, that can't be it. Nanimo? That's just idiotic..."

Kasumi had reported to the tennis club straight after school the next day. "Today," Inui said, "We're going to do the same drill as sometime before." He took out a pitcher of viscous green liquid and held it out for everyone to see. Everyone shuddered, but Kasumi looked confused. "Whoever doesn't finish the lap in the time limit," Inui said, shaking the pitcher slightly, "Will drink a cup of Super Plasma Ultrasonic Inui Juice Remix."

Kasumi could have sworn that the liquid has just fumed. A bubble rose to the surface and popped, releasing some sort of vapor. That stuff doesn't look healthy, she said to herself. "First, we'll start off slow." Inui took out a stopwatch.

"For the first ten laps, the time limit will be two minutes per lap. After that, the next ten laps will have a time limit of ninety seconds each. That's one and a half minutes, if you don't know." People snorted at this. "Finally, the last laps must be completed in thirty seconds. Whoever doesn't complete these," Inui began to pour the liquid in paper cups. Everyone gulped, including her. After he had filled up a few cups, he stood up and said, "Are you ready?" The crowd nodded.

"San, nii, ichi...GO!"

Kasumi found herself passing many people, catching up to her regular sempais. "Ehh!" Kikumaru says happily, "Kawaii-chibi-chan can keep up!" "Sempai," Kasumi said, "What's Inui Juice?" Kikumaru screwed up his face as they jogged. "It's really icky. He uses it to 'motivate' us." He brought his voice down lower. "Sometimes even Inui can't drink his own juices. The only person that survived them is Fuji." At that moment, Fuji-sempai had caught up to the two. He was smiling. "Hmm, I wonder what Inui's Juice tastes like now?" Kasumi and Eiji stared at him incredulously.

"BLEH!" Half of the tennis club had fallen victim to Inui's juice, and now lay sprawling on the floor. Kasumi realized the horror Inui Juice truly was. She willed herself to her regular sempai-tachi.

Now she was running between Kawamura and Echizen-sempai. Kawamura looked rather tired. Ryoma grabbed a racket on the side, supposedly Kawamura-sempai's. "Here's your racket, sempai." Kawamura took the racket. Kasumi then noticed a drastic change in her sempai. He looked pumped. "GREAT-O!" He began to speed past Oishi and Kaidoh. "MOERUZE BURNING!" A dust cloud erupted from every step he took. "What just happened?" Kasumi asked. Echizen shrugged. "We don't know." The two then sped up to make it in time.

Twenty laps had come and gone. The only people left running were the regulars and Kasumi. All the sempai were aggressive, shoving each other to surpass on another. "Hey, mamushi," Momoshiro was side-by-side with Kaidoh, "Have you gotten slower?" Kaidoh growled, "You wanna go?" Momo-chan-sempai said roughly, "If you don't run." The two ran faster.

Kasumi found herself next to Oishi, and asked him, "Are they always like that?" Oishi gave a short laugh then said, "Yeah. They've been rivals since they were freshmen. But rivals can bring the best out of you, which is why they're both here, right?" Kasumi nodded, because she had heard something similar from her grandfather. Kyomaru had said to her,

"When you make a lot of friends, don't forget to make an enemy as well." Little Kasumi was sitting in his lap. She pouted and asked, "Why, grandpa?" He patted her on the head. "Because sometimes your enemies can be your closest friends."

Her thought had made her slower, and she lagged behind. "Kawaii-chibi-chan!" She looked up. There was a huge distance between them. "Oh no!" If she finished after time, she'd have to... The liquid was glowing. She sprinted forward, throwing herself to urge her body more. She barely missed it. "How sad." She saw Inui with a cup of Super Plasma Ultrasonic Inui Juice Remix. It was moving. "That was the last lap, too." She cringed at the sight.

"Inui!" They turned to see Momoshiro and Kikumaru. "She's new! It's not fair..." "Yeah! Kawaii-chibi-chan is untainted!" Inui ignored them and handed Kasumi the cup. She stared at it, but her eyes felt like they were burning. She closed her eyes, and chugged.

It was horrible. The goop coldly slid down her throat. It tasted salty, spicy, and bitter at the same time. She coughed. "Oi!" Oishi had run to pat her on the back. "Are you okay?" She held her throat. "I'm...fine..." She then lightly took Oishi's arm off her then stood up to return the cup to Inui. "It's...horrible." she managed to say. Inui looked fascinated. "Ehh! No fair!" Eiji had crossed his arms. "Kawaii-chibi-chan can survive the drink too!"

"Everyone!" Everyone looked at Tezuka. "Begin practice as usual. Dismissed!" The club dispersed into their respective places. "Coach says that Kasumi has what it takes to follow the same training as the regulars," Inui said, "So this is what we're doing." He took out three hula hoops, each of them a different size and color.

"Today we're going to work on the accuracy of returns. This is how it goes." He put the largest blue hoop in the service area, the middle-sized yellow hoop a foot from the baseline, and the smallest red hoop exactly in the corner, where it was almost out.

"The receiver has to return the ball into these hoops. The server will have the court that has the hoops on them. They get the liberty of calling out 'red', 'blue' or 'yellow', but not the same hoop twice. The receiver has to be able to direct the ball into the right hoop at a moment's notice. Anyone who fails to do this gets the juice."

The entire team gulped. Inui smiled maliciously.

"Are you all ready?"


	7. Chapter 6 : Reflecting

Kasumi was scared. Not the kind of 'scared' when a little kid thinks the boogie man was in their closet, or seeing a really big spider; Kasumi was genuinely SCARED. It felt like a life or death matter. Inui put the pitcher on a bench. Kasumi was expecting the pitcher or bench to dissolve but it stood there ominously.

"Well, here are the pairings. "Momoshiro, Kawamura." Momo swallowed hard. "Ano...let's do our best, right?" Kawamura-sempai held out his hand. Momoshiro looked scared. It was probably due to Kawamura-sempai's brute strength and aggression. "Kaidoh, and myself; Echizen, Kikumaru; Tezuka, Fuji, and Kasumi, Oishi. Everyone clear?" They all nodded.

"Yay! I get to work with O-chibi." Echizen sighed. "Good match." Fuji and Tezuka shook hands solemnly. Oishi came up to Kasumi and patted her on the back. "I guess you'll be working with me." Kasumi nodded. Oishi-sempai wasn't too hard, right?

"Everyone," Inui said again, "The first name will be the receiver that has to hit the right hoop. The second is the server." Kasumi, Echizen, Momoshiro and Kaidoh looked shocked. That meant they would have to prevent themselves from drinking Inui's juice. Oishi chose a court near the side of the fences. "This way, we're closer to the trees that give off shade." he had explained. Inui put the hoops down in their designated areas. "Alright, Kasumi. Here I go!"

He gave an easy serve, and said, "Blue!" Kasumi ran to the ball and hit it. It landed in the blue hoop. "Good! Here it comes again!" Oishi served it and said, "Red!" Kasumi carefully aimed the ball and, to her relief, it landed in the red corner. The others were like this as well. "GREAT-O! RED!" Momoshiro struggled to return the ball, for it was almost unnaturally heavy. "Aoi-desu." Tezuka almost gracefully returned the ball into the blue circle. "Hoi! Yellow!" Echizen looked serious due to the threat of failure.

The practice went on for about ten minutes. "Yellow!" Oishi said, serving the ball. Kasumi ran to get it, but all of a sudden, her legs stopped. She tumbled over. Her stomach felt like it was being forcefully twisted around. "Shitoyaka!" Oishi ran to her. The regulars all went to see. Kasumi groaned in pain.

"Ehh? What happened?" Kikumaru bent over her. Oishi was shaking her shoulder. "Hey! Shitoyaka!" She forced herself to speak. "It's..." She coughed then continued, "It's the...Inui Juice..." She looked at the sky, which was blue again. "Can...one of the sempai...bring me to the side...?" Then everything went dark.

* * *

Kasumi woke up. She jerked into a sitting position. She saw that a regular jersey was on her like a blanket. She turned to find that the regulars were finishing up matches. "Hey." Kasumi turned to see Coach Ryuzaki standing next to her. "What happened out there?" Kasumi shook her head around a bit, to wake up more.

"The Inui Juice. I guess when I first drank it, my body was fighting it. Eventually, the juice won me over and I..." Her voice faded as she saw that the regulars were coming. "Are you feeling better?" Fuji-sempai asked. Kasumi nodded. "Whose jersey is this?" Fuji pointed to himself.

"When you got knocked out, Oishi and I both moved you over to this bench. Then Fuji gave you his jersey. Nya!" Kikumaru said. "You really scared us." Momoshiro said, "After that, Inui decided to not use his new juice anymore." Kasumi smiled weakly. "I guess that's a good thing. Arigatou, sempai-tachi." They all smiled except Echizen, who was coming out of the locker room. "Hey, can we go home now?" he asked, annoyed.

Kyo was laughing hysterically. Kasumi had just told him about Inui Juice. "And you're telling me that you drank it?" Kasumi nodded embarrassed. He laughed heartily. It's not funny, grandfather!" She pouted. He managed to control himself. "Ah, forgive me, my dear. But that boy's antics are so peculiar!" He stood up to drink a cup of water in the kitchen. As he poured a glass, he said, "But those practices are logical. You should fulfill them perfectly."

Kasumi nodded as she took out an apple from the table. She bit it then asked, "Gramfapher?" He put down his glass, which was empty. "I thought I taught to not speak when your mouth is full." Kasumi blushed then swallowed. "Did my parents go to Seishun Gakuen by any chance?" The old man sighed.

"Well, your mother moved around as a child, so I've been told. But you're absolutely right about your father." Kasumi straightened up. "You mean-" Kyo nodded. "He was part of the Seigaku tennis club as well." He looked at the clock. "That's why I wanted you to go to school here. I know he would've wanted you to." He then walked out of the room. "I think," He said, "you should go 'hang out' with your new friends." Kasumi shook her head. "No, no, no. They're just sempai. They're just..."

She then thought about what had happened earlier. Oishi and Kikumaru-sempai-tachi had carried her to the bench, and Fuji-sempai had given her his jersey. Was this how people made friends? Kyomaru looked back at his granddaughter. Look what I've done, he said to himself. Kasumi never really had friends before.

There was no practice today, and Kasumi was still puzzled by what her grandfather had said to her. Could sempai-tachi be friends? As she walked past a park, she heard tennis sounds. Pock. Smack. Pock. The person had missed. She entered the park. She found Sakuno in the wall practice. She was wearing a white headband and tennis clothes. "Hi." Sakuno almost tripped in place. She turned to see Kasumi. "Oh...umm...ano..." She really couldn't talk that smoothly, Kasumi thought.

"You play tennis also?" Sakuno blushed. "Umm...well, not that good at it..." Kasumi took out her own racket. "Want me to teach you a bit?" Sakuno was flustered. "Oh! Umm...b-but it'd be a b-bother t-to Kasumi-san and-" Kasumi bent over to pick up the ball. "Relax," she told the stuttering girl, "It's no problem."

The next few hours, Kasumi was kindly coaching Sakuno, telling her how to stand, serve, and run on the court. "You have to improve your grip." Kasumi said, "If you don't, you won't have a favorable control of the ball. Your stance isn't good either. You can't run that fast." Kasumi showed her, and watched as Sakuno followed. She really wants to learn tennis, Kasumi noted, but she's not good at all. What drives her?

Kasumi looked at her small wristwatch. "It's already five o' clock." She gave Sakuno one of her water bottles. "We should be going home now." Sakuno sipped timidly from the bottle. "Ano..." She looked down to her feet. "Thank you, Kasumi-san." Kasumi smiled. "Everyone can be good at tennis if they take it seriously." she replied, "So, are you going to be here tomorrow?" Sakuno looked up. "Umm, yes, I come here every day." Kasumi clapped. "Great! So from now on, I'll teach you how to play!"

For the next few weeks, Kasumi balanced her Seigaku duties and training Sakuno into account. She devoted a couple of hours every few days. Also, Kasumi began to feel happier with her sempai-tachi in the tennis club. Oishi-sempai and Eiji-sempai looked out for her, Fuji-sempai was really friendly, and Momo-chan-sempai constantly teased her.

"You know, you should get more sleep so you can grow up." Kasumi pushed him slightly. "I'm not that short!" Momoshiro would laugh then start teasing Echizen about dating Kasumi. That was strongly inadvisable. Echizen almost flattened Momo's nose with a Twist Serve, and Kasumi drilled a Full Moon Drop on his head. He had obviously stopped doing that. Instead, every now and then he and Kaidoh provoked one another. However, every time this happens, Tezuka easily breaks them up with a single "What do you think you're doing?"

After that, Kasumi would wait for Sakuno at the tennis court in the park. There, the two would have a casual and easy light volley. Kasumi made sure to direct the ball away from Sakuno, so she would get used to chasing the ball. One day, though, Sakuno had not come. Kasumi bounced the ball around.

"Well, well. Who do we have here?" Kasumi turned around to see a teen boy. He was wearing a different kind of jersey what was white with a brown stripe on it. It must be from a tennis club of another school. The one that spoke had dark, somewhat curly hair. "Isn't it good manners if you introduce yourself first?" Kasumi said coolly. The guy laughed. "We have a real fresh one here, huh?"

He twisted a lock of hair with his finger. "I'd be happy to introduce myself as Mizuki Hajime from St. Rudolph Middle School. Now may I ask who you are?" Kasumi mumbled her name. "Well, it looks like you can play tennis. Would you care to have a match?" Kasumi didn't have time to play them. "I don't really-" "That's not nice." Kasumi and the guy looked around to see another guy. He was wearing another different jersey. His was half white and half grayish. His hair was purple or bluish gray; Kasumi couldn't tell.

"You don't just challenge a poor innocent girl like that." The person continued. Mizuki frowned. "Tch. Why are you here, Atobe?" The boy called Atobe laughed. "I don't have to tell you, but I was just in the neighborhood. Is that enough for you?" Kasumi felt stupid, not knowing either one of them. She slowly inched towards the stairs. The two began to have a conversation, but then one said, "Where do you think you're going?" Kasumi froze. Mizuki went to her. "What school are you from?" She didn't answer. He grabbed her wrist.

She flicked her wrist around. This bent his arm in an unnatural position. He instinctively let go. Then, she followed up by grabbing his wrist, turning around, and heaving his weight over her shoulder. He was flipped over and landed on his back. She then rushed away. Atobe stroked his chin.

"What an interesting girl." He then turned his head. "Eh, Kabaji?" An insanely large person came. "Usu."

--

After-note:

Thanks to anyone who read this so far. I know Mizuki is 10 times OOC, but I needed SOMEONE to get flipped, and he was my least favorite character. "Sorry" to any fans that are offended.


	8. Chapter 7 : Regular?

Kasumi ran so recklessly that she had bumped into someone by accident. "Oof!" The two fell on the ground. "I'm sorry about-" "There you are!" Kasumi looked up at the person who she had bumped in to. It was Momoshiro. "So this is where you were!" Kasumi was dumbfounded. Why was sempai looking for her?

"Nee, Echizen!" He called over his shoulder, "I found her!" Momentarily, Echizen-sempai appeared running up the stairs. "What took you so long?" Momo asked, "I didn't run that fast." Ryoma sighed. "It's called 'preserving energy', Momo-chan-sempai." Kasumi coughed, covering up her laugh.

"So," Echizen continued, "Why are you here?" Kasumi focused again. "I'd like to counter with 'Why were you two sempai looking for me?'" Momo, who had kept silent long enough, piped up. "We still have practice today! Inui scheduled today as an extra one so we would be ready for the next game!" Kasumi felt misinformed. When did that happen?

Echizen forcedly pulled his senior back on his feet. "She didn't know because Inui put the notice in the boy's lockers, maybe?" Echizen said sarcastically. "Err..I knew that..." Momoshiro laughed nervously. Kasumi stood as well, hoisting her tennis bag back on her shoulder.

"That Ryuzaki kid told us that you would be here. She said to say sorry for not coming, since she had to buy groceries right after school was over." Kasumi exhaled deeply. Shouldn't news like this come instantly? Ryoma tugged Momoshiro's sleeve. "We're wasting time. Ikuze."

Kasumi was accompanied back to the Seishun Gakuen school grounds. Tezuka was there, arms folded. Kasumi bowed to him. "I didn't know we had practice today." she said. He cleared his throat. She straightened up.

"You wouldn't have known because Inui had forgotten that you don't use the boy's lockers." He cast a stern look at Inui. Inui's head slumped slightly. "Anyway, since it wasn't your fault, you deserve no punishment." Kasumi bowed again, saying "Arigatou, buchou!" Tezuka inclined his head. Kasumi took it as a nod. "Minna!" Tezuka then said, "Run fifteen laps!"

Kasumi ran faster than usual, probably because of the trouble she had caused her sempai-tachi. Oishi had caught up to her and said, "You know, if you run this fast, you'll get tired soon." He was right, she knew, because her legs were beginning to wobble. She lessened her pace. Oishi followed en suite.

"When we realized that you didn't get the notice," Oishi continued, "Momo volunteered to go and find you. He then...well, he 'volunteered' Echizen to come with." Kasumi smiled, but was confused. "Why would they do that?" Oishi looked forward, as if that would help him give an answer. Finally, as the two were turning the corner of the court, he said, "Because you're part of the Seigaku family now." Kasumi looked at him. He was smiling warmly. It reminded Kasumi of her mother. She looked down. "Thank you."

Oishi laughed. "You don't need to thank me. Everyone agreed that you were ready." They had finished but one lap. Oishi then lowered his voice and said, "Coach wants to let you play in our team the next game. Inui's already agreed to sit out this once." Kasumi's eyes widened. "For me?" He nodded. They finished their lap. He patted her on the shoulder. "Well, make us proud!"

Kasumi lay awake that night, thinking about what she had just heard. A part of the team... She stared at the ceiling. Was this really happening? A regular... Her mind made the ceiling swirl around.

"Having trouble sleeping?" Kasumi sat up to see her grandfather at the door. "I...err..." He chuckled. "Next time, try turning off the light first." Kasumi blushed at her stupidity. "Well, good night, little one." "Oyosumi nasai, oji-sama."

Kasumi met Sakuno after school the next day. This time she was actually there. "Umm..." Sakuno twiddled her fingers. "I'm...sorry about not coming yesterday..." Kasumi forced herself to smile. "It's okay." she managed to say, though it wasn't. "But next time, tell me if you can't come." Kasumi had given Sakuno her cell phone number just for this purpose at the beginning of her apprenticeship. "Oh!" Sakuno ducked her head. Kasumi sighed. She didn't remember.

Kasumi produced a tennis ball from her bag. She went to the opposite court. "Do you remember what I told you last time?" Sakuno nodded. She moved her grip to the end of the racket and spread her legs. "Not bad," Kasumi commented, "But bend your back a little." Sakuno obeyed. Kasumi nodded then bounced the tennis ball on the ground a few times. "Here I go." she called out.

She gave an easy serve. It went across the court at a casual pace, like when one would go window-shopping. Sakuno almost tripped to catch up to it then hit it back. It feebly went over the net. Kasumi returned it lightly again. "Come on, Sakuno!" she called, "You can hit harder than that!" Sakuno ran and hit the ball once more with a backhand. It was a little faster this time. Kasumi then complimented it with a faster shot of her own.

The ball got progressively harder. This is good, she thought. She hit a bit heavy. Sakuno, being somewhat frail, lobbed the ball up. Instinctively, Kasumi jumped. She smashed it. Sakuno's weak arms could not cope with the force. The ball flew past her. Kasumi sighed. "Every time you improve, I'll be more serious. No one will take it easy on you." Sakuno nodded. Kasumi was about to retrieve the ball when it came back through the air. Kasumi swung her racket down. As the ball bounced up, Kasumi caught it. She heard some one clap.

"Bravo." She looked behind Sakuno. It was the person she had recalled being Atobe. Nevertheless, she asked, "Who are you?" He gave a short laugh. "How rude of me. Keigo Atobe, at your service." He replied with a bow. Kasumi winced. What a pompous guy. He walked up to Sakuno's half of the court. Kasumi sent Sakuno a look that said, "Get off the court. Now." Sakuno had either understood, or she had followed her instincts. She fled from the court with her racket.

"Unlike that unimportant person from the last time we met," he said, "I would like to formally ask you for a match." Kasumi tightly gripped her racket's handle. Finally, she met his gaze. "I'd be much obliged, Atobe-san." She accepted, with a slight bow of her own. Her answer sounded humble, but in reality Kasumi had intended to mock him. He was oblivious to this, and said, "Be in awe of my prowess."

The two met at the net. "Which?" Atobe sighed with grandeur, flipping his hair. "Ladies first." "Tch." Kasumi didn't like this guy. She took her tennis ball and looked at it before looking at her opponent. He was at the returning position. "Nee, Atobe-san," Kasumi said as innocently as she possibly could, "Don't go too hard on me." Atobe grinned malevolently. "Of course."

The two had a light volley. It was a bit more challenging than the volley she had done with Sakuno. Neither had to run far to return. "Not bad." Atobe said, effortlessly sending the ball back. "You're just as AMAZING..." Kasumi said, emphasizing the last word with sarcasm as to sink it in. Atobe either did not notice the negativity or didn't care. He laughed again. "You really know how to respect elders, don't you?" Kasumi grimaced inside, but gave a false smile of her own. "Only the best."

"Kasumi!" A voice called. Kasumi bounced the ball downwards and caught it again. She turned to see the regulars coming up the stairs. "Sempai...tachi..." Why had they come again? Momoshiro and Kikumaru ran up to her. "Nee, kawaii-chibi-chan, are you okay?" Eiji-sempai said worriedly. Kasumi nodded hesitantly. "Why?" The hyperactive red-head sighed. "Man, you gave us a scare!" Momoshiro said, "The Ryuzaki kid ran to us and told us that you were here again with..." He turned.

Atobe put his hand on his forehead in a 'diva' fashion. "Well, this won't do for a match." He said plainly. Oishi came along. "You were having a match with Atobe?" Kasumi nodded again. "Why? Is that a bad thing?" Oishi shook his head. "No! It's just..." He took a moment then continued, "Ryuzaki told us that you had met up with Atobe, and we thought that you were in trouble, so we all came..."

Kasumi looked incredulously at Sakuno. She blushed, and focused on the toes of her feet. "Well, I'm fine, sempai. You didn't have to go through all the trouble..." Oishi laughed with relief. "Right." Kasumi looked around. Inui was writing something, mumbling something about Atobe and a school she had not heard of. On the other hand, Taka-san was wielding his racket.

"DAAANNNNNGGGEEERRR!! We'll save you, Shitoyaka! BUUUURRRRNNNNIIINNNGGGG!" Kaidoh stood beside him, staring at a child's kitten chasing a butterfly, though not obviously. Fuji and Tezuka were standing near him as well. Fuji was smiling ever so cheerfully, and Tezuka still had a stern face on. Next to them was Ryoma, who stood with a hand in his pocket. The other was holding a can of Fanta. He sipped it with a withdrawn and cool attitude. He then sighed. "Can we go now?" he asked.


	9. Chapter 8 : Doubles Entry

Kasumi walked with her sempai-tachi. The whole team had come just for her sake. She apologized again and again, hoping it would ease some of her guilt. They kept saying that it wasn't a big deal, and they were sure that she'd do the same. Kasumi thought, would I do this for them? After a long debate in her mind, she finally agreed that she would.

"Thank you, sempai-tachi, but my house is this way." Kasumi told them, but in reality it was a few blocks down. She just wanted to walk by herself. They obliged, and Kasumi strayed from the group. As she turned the corner, a fuzzy cat leaped at her. "Ah!" She caught it.

"Meow." Kasumi stared at the cat. "Karupin?" It meowed again for hearing its name. Karupin began to rub his nose on Kasumi's shoulder. She petted his fur, and began to walk again. "You left your house again?" she asked Karupin. "Meow myo." Karupin replied. She hit his head lightly. After a few minutes, Kasumi was back at where Karupin's owners lived.

She knocked the door again. The same woman Kasumi had met answered the door. "Oh! You found Karupin!" Kasumi gave the cat to her. "Arigatou again!" Kasumi smiled. "It's nothing, ma'am." The woman set Karupin down. He scurried back into the house. "If he ever runs off again and you see him, just drop him off at the front door." the woman said, "He knows how to get in the house." Kasumi nodded. "Well, goodbye." Kasumi waved, then left, and like before, she didn't see the name "ECHIZEN" on the front gate.

"So that's why you came home late?" Kyomaru looked out the window once more. The sky had become a brilliant scarlet color. The sun shone with gold radiance as it began to sink down the horizon to allow the blanket of stars to cover the sky. Kasumi nodded. That was the entire story. He took his cup of tea and sipped it. "You know that I can tell if you're lying, Kasumi." Kasumi stood up in disagreement. "But-" "However," he continued, "This time I know that you are speaking the truth." Kasumi slumped back into her couch.

"But you must agree with me that what you have told me is the most unusual excuse of all." Kasumi managed to grin. "At least it wasn't that a snake broke loose from the zoo and I managed to tame it." The old man laughed then patted his granddaughter's head. "As long as it doesn't snow in the summer."

Kasumi sat in the stands, her custom Seigaku jacket on her shoulders. She felt nostalgic seeing this jacket on her, but she fought the urge to remember them; remember those beloved people: O-tou-san, O-kaa-san and O-nii-san.

The match was about to begin. Coach Ryuzaki held a piece of paper in her hand. She waved it in the air. "Alright! This is the line-up for today's matches." The regulars gathered around her. Kasumi managed to squeeze between Kikumaru and Inui. "Doubles two will be Kasumi and Ryoma." "WHAT?!" The regulars all looked at each other, then at the two freshmen. "Nee, baa-san," Momoshiro said worriedly, "Aren't they both better as singles players?" Ryuzaki nodded. "They have to get used to it. Besides," She patted Kasumi on the shoulder, "The only person on the team that saw Kasumi's play style first-hand is Echizen." Echizen looked away. Kasumi stared at the concrete floor. The coach grabbed both by the wrists and said, "Well, go!"

The crowd murmured amongst themselves. "Hey, isn't that a girl?" "Yeah. And in an all-boy's team, too." "Are they kidding?" Kasumi ducked her head. The four players met at the net. "Hey, look at that," one of the opponents said, "A couple of squirts." The other laughed. "This is going to be a piece of cake!" But then one of them looked at Echizen. "H-hey...isn't that the freshman that everyone's been talking about?" Echizen walked away from the net. Kasumi followed his lead.

"Stay out of my way." Echizen said with boredom. Kasumi nodded. Echizen is a singles player, Kasumi thought, and the doubles court is a bit larger than a singles court. I should make myself useful and cover up his blind spots. She positioned herself on the left side of their court. Echizen flicked his wrist as he smashed the ball. It veered at the opponent's face. "Fifteen, love!" The guy looked at his partner. "W-what was that just now?" The latter shrugged. Echizen served again. It was a service ace without any effort.

Echizen had won an easy love game. He moved himself in a returning stance. Kasumi calculated where Echizen couldn't reach the ball, and positioned herself there. The opponent served. Soundlessly, Echizen moved and returned it with ease. The ball flew past their weak defense. "Love, fifteen!"

The ball was served again. This time, Kasumi leaped to send it back. Echizen had not bothered to move. He had already known where Kasumi was, and his limit. "Nee," Momoshiro said nervously, "They're not really working together." Oishi shook his head. "Actually, they are." Momo gave him a questioning look. Eiji spoke up. "Kawaii-chibi-chan is covering up O-chibi's weak spots, so they can always return!" Inui mumbled. "And since Echizen has a wide range for return, Kasumi barely gets to move. However, it's very efficient for a beginning pair..."

The two had easily destroyed their opponents. As the pair walked back to the benches, there were whispers in the crowd. "Are those two for real?" "They're so young though!" "The crazy freshmen pair, eh?" Kasumi took a swig from her water bottle, after checking to make sure that her name was on it. Kasumi certainly didn't want to drink water from anyone's water bottles, especially not Inui's. She shivered. Suddenly, Kasumi felt someone latch onto her back.

"Yatta!" Kasumi struggled with the task of holding her senior sempai up. "Neh, neh!" Kikumaru said, using one finger to poke her cheek, "You did real good, kawaii-chibi-chan!" Kasumi spread her legs to steady herself. "Umm, sempai..." Before she could finish, Kikumaru finally got a clue and jumped off. Oishi rushed over and gave Kikumaru a mildly stern look. Kasumi continued to walk away.

Kasumi found a large oak tree. Putting her tennis bag beside it, she sat down at the trunk and began to untie her shoes. After a few seconds, Kasumi was bare foot. She then stood and looked around. There weren't any spectators to the match because preliminaries were not important. Sighing, Kasumi jumped. Once she reached the peak of her leap, she hugged the trunk. Then she latched her legs around the trunk. Slowly, Kasumi began to climb the tree.

"Nee, Echizen." Oishi said, looking at the unmotivated freshman. "What?" Ryoma held a can of Fanta. He sipped it nonchalantly. Oishi looked around nervously. "I don't see Shitoyaka anywhere." Echizen put the can back down. "So?" Oishi looked at him. Ryoma sighed, pulling his cap over his eyes slightly. "Fine, I'll look for her." He stood up and walked away. Fuji, who was a few feet away from the conversation, commented to Inui, "We don't call him the 'Mother of Seigaku' for nothing, huh?" Inui shrugged.

Ryoma threw his Fanta can away. As he turned away from the trash can, he noticed a tennis bag under a tree. As he walked closer, he realized that it belonged to Kasumi. He stood at the trunk of the tree, leaning his back against it. After a moment of concentration, he heard a faint sound. Kasumi hummed a reminiscent tune softly. Echizen continued to listen to the simple melody, noting that he may have heard it in the distant past.

When he felt it was the right moment, Ryoma called out, "What are you doing up there?" He heard a rustle of leaves, then a thud on the branch above him, just before he heard something fall to the ground. Kasumi lay there, sprawling. "Ite ite ite..." She rubbed her bottom sorely. Echizen, who was surprised at this entrance, stood next to her. "You okay?" His tone was slightly concerned. Kasumi looked up at him. "Oh!" She scrambled up. "Umm, sempai just startled me..." He looked away. Kasumi blushed for no apparent reason then went to her bag. She silently put her shoes back on. Kasumi stood up with her bag slung on her shoulder. Echizen began to walk ahead.

"Come on," he said, "Sempai-tachi should be done by now."

**Author's note:  
**

**Sorry I took so long in posting it, but the chapter's a bit short. I'm juggling around prep classes and stuff, and the teachers have no souls D:**


	10. Chapter 9 : Celebration

As Echizen predicted, the matches were over. They were already packing up their bags. "Oi, Echizen!" Momo called to Ryoma, "What took ya?" Echizen sighed. "Nothing." Kasumi sighed in relief. He didn't mention the whole incident with the tree. Ryuzaki came over and said, "Alright people, let's go back."

Kyomaru poured a cup of tea and handed it to Kasumi. "How was your day?" Kasumi sighed. "Uneventful." Her grandfather widened his eyes. "Oh?" Kasumi sipped the tea. Although it burned her throat, she showed no sign of it.

"I had to play doubles." she said glumly. The old man drank tea from his own cup. "Does that trouble you?" Kasumi looked up at the ceiling. "Not really. But I can't work on my potential." The old man closed his eyes to think.

"Do you think all of those double pairs in the world can't show their potentials?" Kasumi looked at her grandfather. His expression was impassive. "No, because they're better at doubles anyways." The two took another sip in silence. "You do know part of potential is being as versatile as possible, right?" Kasumi nodded. "That means that being good at doubles just as much as singles will make you an even stronger player." "But how?" Kyo smiled. "The trick to doubles is to be able to rely on your partner as much as they would rely on you."

"But," Kasumi said, "This guy doesn't need my help at all!" She folded her arms. "All I did was return when he couldn't reach it." She was startled when her grandfather clapped loudly once. "Very good!" Kasumi looked at him, confused. "If you two already can understand each other's actions, then the real doubles play comes in. It's like you two are already a couple!" Kasumi flustered. It sounded weird when he said it like that. He stood up. "Well, I have an appointment to go to now. I trust that when I come home, this building is not on fire, okay?" "Hai, Oji-sama."

Kasumi sat at her desk in her room drawing something on a piece of white paper. One by one, the blank pages beside her disappeared, replaced by pictures. After a while, Kasumi sighed and fell into her bed. Her grandfather came in her room, and silently took the pictures. He grinned at them then put them back on her table.

"So this is your team, Kasumi?" he asked the sleeping girl as he opened her window. Her slow breath replied. He chuckled then looked up, not to the ceiling, but somehow beyond it. "You raised a fine, talented girl, my son." Kyo then slipped through the door, knowing that he had covered up all of his tracks.

Kasumi woke up and saw that her papers had moved. "I didn't leave the window open, did I?" she asked herself. But when she turned around, a cool breeze brushed her face. Guess not, she thought. Kyomaru opened the door with his foot as he entered holding a plate with scrambled eggs, toast, and strips of bacon.

"Make haste, my granddaughter. I would like to bring you somewhere." Kasumi looked at the clock. "But it's Saturday." He put the plate on her lap. "Like I'd bring you somewhere in the morning on a weekday?" Kasumi slumped. Duh. That's grandfather for you.

Kyomaru parked with superior control. "We're here, Kasumi." The girl had fallen asleep, leaning on the window. The old man smiled, then jabbed her rib with two of his fingers. "Ow!" Kasumi jolted up. "Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, your highness, but we've arrived." Kasumi groaned. Why was he being so cryptic?

Kasumi climbed out of the car door, her skirt flowing with the wind. She had a summer dress on. It was cream colored with gray swirl designs on it. The waistband and neck part were strips of black. However, Kasumi could not part from her tennis shoes, as she wore them disregarding the fact that it clashed with her outfit. "Nee, Oji-sama," she said exasperatedly, "Where are we going?" The old man continued walking. Kasumi frowned then followed.

"Irrashai! This is the Kawamura Sushi Place! Please make yourselves comfortable!" Kasumi stood close to her grandfather. "What is this place?" He looked at her then said softly, "The nice man already said it. This is the Kawamura Sushi Place." Kawamura... As in Taka-san? Here?

"KYA!" A scurry of footsteps followed. "CHIBI-CHAAN!" "Kikuma- oof!" She was hugged ferociously by the childish red-head. "You made it! I'm so happy!" Kikumaru squeezed her. Kasumi looked at him incredulously then looked behind him. The whole team sat there as well.

"It's been a while, Kyo." Ryuuzaki said. Kyomaru chuckled. "I suppose it has." He then walked towards the door. "Well, I'll take my leave." Kasumi turned sharply, with her sempai still clutching her. "Leaving?" "Have a good time, granddaughter!" He tipped his hand and left. As he walked out, he muttered to himself. "One of them has the Samurai's eyes…how interesting."

Kikumaru finally let go. "Ehh!" he then said in awe. "Chibi-chan's wearing a dress! KAWAII-NE!" He grabbed her shoulders and turned her towards the others. "Look, look! Doesn't she look so CUTE!?" "Oho!" Momo-chan-sempai sat up to examine her. "She is, right?" Kikumaru continued happily. Oishi gave him a look that said "you really should let go of her". Eiji-sempai pouted, letting go of the slightly traumatized freshman.

"Sorry for the wait! Please enjoy!" the sushi chef, who Kasumi deduced was Taka-san's father, said. He and his son put out different assortments of sushi. It was lunch-time, the perfect time to have an endless sushi fest. Kasumi stared at them all with wide eyes. They all were hand-made and looked delicious. It couldn't compare to the sushi places elsewhere.

"From that look, I guess this is your first visit a sushi place in Japan, right?" Kasumi turned to Fuji's voice. He smiled. "Your face says it all." Kasumi looked down. "I guess it does." He laughed softly.

"So, do you have any favorite kinds of sushi?" She continued to refrain from eye-contact due to embarrassment. "The only kind of sushi I've ever eaten was a California Roll." "That's all?" Oishi commented, overhearing the previous comment. Kasumi nodded woefully. "Meaning that all of this is new to you?" Another nod. "Wow." Oishi finally ended. Then he eyed a platter a few tables away. "Kasumi, you should go try some of that. It's good." He pointed to the table with his chopsticks. "Oh…" Kasumi stood up. "Whatever sempai says."

"Nee, Fuji-sempai, what's your favorite kind of sushi?" Kasumi asked upon returning from trying out Oishi's recommendation, which was scrumptious. "Heh… I'd have to say anything with wasabi in it." Ryoma, while passing by, leaned close to Kasumi's ear and whispered, "More like 'anything made out of wasabi'."

"Buu-chou." Kasumi called him. "Nn?" Tezuka looked up from his plate, where sushi had been eaten off gracefully. "Why are you sitting alone?" He looked away. "No reason." "Then you should come and sit with us." Tezuka looked at her questioningly. She smiled. "It'd really suck to have an anti-social captain, right?" Tezuka then dropped his head. "Well, you can stay if you'd like. That's fine too." Kasumi ended, walking away, not sensing the depressed aura surrounding the captain. Oishi, a few tables away, felt a vigorous tapping on his shoulder. "Chibi-chan just called buu-chou 'antisocial'. And he didn't scold her back, either!" Kikumaru said, grinning sheepishly.

Kasumi had obtained a soft spot for sushi after the banquet. She loved all the different kinds of it, such as unagi, ebi, and different types of roe. But her favorite was matsubagani. "Oishii-ne." Kasumi sighed after eating her fill. Echizen was sitting next to her. "Are you going to finish that?" Kasumi followed his gesture until her eyes met a plate with a single piece of hirame. "No, you can take it…but I already bit that one."

"Nee, Echizen!" Momo came rather cheerfully. "What?" he replied, picking up the halved piece with his chopsticks. "You know, if you eat a piece she already bit, it's called an 'indirect kiss'." "Eh?" Kikumaru came along. "Chibi-tachi are gonna kiss? What?" Momo restated his argument. "Oh! Indirectly? I got it!" The two then stooped down to the table and stared at Ryoma expectantly. Echizen sighed and put the piece back.

"Not eating it is disrespectful to the chef, Echizen! You took it, so finish it!" "What side are you on?" Echizen commented. "Go, O-chibi, go!" Kikumaru seemed to be bouncing in his seat. Kasumi sighed. Why couldn't I have just finished off that piece so this would never happen? Echizen used his chopsticks to seize the hirame sushi once again. "Gomen ne, Shitoyaka." He said. Kasumi then realized that was the first time he ever used her name. She felt her face flush, and looked away. Why am I blushing…?

"Arigatou for the great sushi, Mr. Kawamura." Kasumi said wholeheartedly. "Ah, no problem. It's nice seeing kids these days that still appreciate sushi." Kasumi grinned. With that, the team exited the store.

"So, where should we go now?" Oishi asked the team. "Fushuu…let's just go home…" Kaidoh mumbled. "Nani? What's up with that, mamushi?" Momoshiro interjected, "You no-life. You're gonna go rot in your house, huh?" "WHAAT?!" Kaidoh roared. Kikumaru broke in. "We should go somewhere fun! Somewhere we can all play games!" He said that statement with such innocence and excitement. Oishi sighed. "Fuji?" "Eh, I agree with Eiji." He replied, smiling.

Kasumi then suddenly thought of something that she probably might regret. "How about an arcade?" The team turned to her. "Oh…never mind. That was stupid huh…" "That's a GREAT IDEA!" Kikumaru cried in joy, and embraced her. "You're so smart, chibi-chan!" "Any objections?" Oishi directed to the team. "Aheh… it sounds fun." Taka said shyly. "Nope! An arcade is fine!" Momo said. "Right, Echizen?" The freshman sighed. "Whatever." "And buu-chou?" Tezuka, with his arms crossed, simply stated, "Don't let your guard down."

"Yatta!" Kikumaru grabbed Kasumi with his right hand and Echizen with his left. "Let's go!"


	11. Chapter 10 : Weakness

"Ah!" Kasumi looked around. There was a multitude of games as far as the eye could see. There were crane games, fighter games, shooting games, dancing games, and even pinball. A teen made his way to the group. "Welcome. May I be of any assistance?" "Wow, they actually have people to greet us in an arcade?" Kasumi asked Oishi. "This arcade is much larger than an average one. It's not strange for someone to easily get lost, so the arcade is filled with guides and helpers." "Oh."

"What game should we play?" Kikumaru ran around gleefully, dragging along Kasumi and Ryoma. "Sempai can let go now." Kasumi tried suggesting. "You're right!" He released them. The two simultaneously rubbed their wrists. "So, so. What looks fun to you?" Kikumaru put his elbows around the two. "Eiji!" And like air, Oishi somehow always appears. "Oishi!" Kikumaru exclaimed. "Just in time! Help me find a game to play!"

"Whack-a-mole…?" Kasumi found herself in front of the rows of holes grasping a poor excuse of a hammer. "Sempai…do I have to…?" Kikumaru nodded. "It'll be fun! Just do it, Chibi-chan!" She sighed. Oishi said "I'm sorry" with his eyes, and inserted a token into the machine. It made a whirring sound and its lights began to flash. A corny tune began to play. The screen in front of it read "Ready?" Kasumi raised the hammer and took a stance. The screen changed. Ping. "GO!"

BAM. A mole's head was flattened by Kasumi's strength. The score became one. "Yay! Great job, Chibi-chan!" Eiji-sempai failed to realize that this was only the beginning. Another poorly made figure of a mole emerged. THWACK. It retreated in submission.

"How long will this go on…" Kasumi grumbled. Hitting brown blobs coming out of holes didn't appeal to her that well, especially when it seemed that they were continuing to arise with no signs of stopping. When Kasumi was about to stop playing, the machine started ringing. "New record! New record!" it read. With that, Kasumi was hugged…again. "Yay! Yay! BRAVO, Chibi-chan!" Kikumaru lifted her off her feet and swung her side to side.

"Please, sempai…you're making a scene…" Kikumaru looked around and confirmed the handful of people staring at him. He let her down. "Gomen ne, Chibi-chan!" He pinched her cheek briefly then ran to find another game to play. "Eiji!" Oishi called out, rushing after him. "Should we follow them?" Kasumi asked Echizen. He shrugged. "Who knows?"

Kasumi and Echizen roamed in the arcade. They were unable to find Kikumaru and Oishi, so they drifted around. None of the games they've passed so far interested them. "Nee, what time is it?" Kasumi checked her watch. "Almost 4 o' clock." Echizen sighed. "Wonder where the exit is…" "Ah!" Echizen stopped to turn towards Kasumi's outburst. "Are we lost?" Kasumi asked. Echizen felt panic through her frantic eyes. "I don't know. We should be somewhere in the middle of this place…" He trailed off when he saw Kasumi shaking.

It was her one of her few fears: being lost. She had obtained it after an incident involving a gift store, a foreign country, and a crowd. Kasumi did not like having no sense of direction. It bothers her, and puts her in a state of helplessness.

"Hey," Echizen said, getting closer to her. "Are you scared…?" Kasumi hugged herself and swayed slightly back and forth. Ryoma frowned. This didn't look good. He cautiously put his arm around her. It was awkward, since Echizen wasn't used to comforting anyone.

"It's fine…we can just ask one of the guides, okay? Don't worry…" She trembled less, but still was not reassured. Sigh. "I'm not good at this, huh…" he muttered, looking around. He spotted a woman wearing a staff uniform. "Oi, Shitoyaka." He let go of her to hold her hand. "Look. There's one of those guides. We're not lost." She finally looked up at him. He had a strange face on: it was somewhat warm, but still a bit strained. Baka…she thought. But he did try. That had to count as something. He led her to the woman, maintaining his grasp. Finally, before they had reached her, Kasumi said softly to him, "Arigatou."

The two stood at the entrance of the arcade. Echizen had let go of her upon receiving directions. Kasumi was not at ease with his company anymore. After that vulnerable show in front of him, she was embarrassed. "So…" Kasumi jumped slightly when addressed. "What do we do now?" Kasumi couldn't make eye contact with him. "I don't know." She quickly responded. Although she didn't see it, Echizen gave her a mildly concerned look.

"If that whole thing back there bothers you this much," Kasumi cringed at the thought, "You can just pretend it never happened." She looked at her sempai. "I…" he stared at a crane machine when saying this, "…won't mention it if you don't want me to…" She bit her lip. Why say that, sempai? Does it really bother me? And if it does, how can you tell? He sighed once more. "Man, this is weird, huh?" He said, scratched his head. Kasumi couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, it is."

Echizen went away to find a vending machine. Kasumi, feeling a bit too idle, decided to make use of her time in an arcade. She eyed the crane machine sempai had looked at. It didn't seem too difficult. She inserted a token. It made a "clink" sound. The machine stirred up. Kasumi held the toggle stick with one hand and the "grab" button with the other.

She maneuvered it carefully; making sure the grapple was directly above one specific toy. When she finally found the right position, she sent the grapple down. It clasped the stuffed animal then arose. Kasumi directed it back to the prize chute. She then pressed the "eject" button. The toy fell out. Ding ding ding! The machine flashed its lights again. Kasumi bent down to obtain her prize. It really isn't that hard, huh, she told herself.

Oddly enough, the stuffed animal, upon closer inspection, was a pink cat. Its pellet-filled body swished around when Kasumi moved it in her hands. "Heh," she said to herself, "It looks like it'd match Eiji-sempai perfectly." "Nee, what'cha got there?" Kasumi gasped, swerving around. Momo grinned. "Oh? A stuffed animal? That's so cute." He patted her head. She looked behind him, where Fuji and Tezuka stood. Fuji smiled. "How was you time here?" "…uneventful…" she said in a low voice. "Eh? What's wrong?" Momo knocked her on the head twice. "You seem down." "Ah…" She shook her head. "I'm fine!" Tezuka looked at a clock. "We're going." He announced. "Okay! I'll go find the others." With that, Momo left.

"KAWAII-CHIBI-CHAN!!" Kasumi didn't bother reacting to the vicious bear hug from Eiji-sempai. "When we turned around, you were gone! We were SO WORRIED!" He clung on to her. "Hah…" Oishi came over. "Where did you guys go, anyway?" Kasumi and Echizen looked at each other then both turned away. "Nowhere," the two replied. "We went to play that dancing game!" Kikumaru continued. "You know, with that pad thing with four arrows!" Oh, that game. Kasumi had heard of it before.

"So, what did you guys do?" Oishi asked Kaidoh, Inui, and Kawamura. "Well… I tried out a basketball game…" Taka-san said. "Fushuu…" Kaidoh said nothing else. "Inui?" "I tried a shooting game." Everyone glanced at each other. "Inui playing a shooting game?" "It must've been scary: he probably used calculations and stuff."

The sun was setting now, painting the sky with a blend of crimson and gold. The group had split up to go home. Kasumi found that Kikumaru, Momoshiro, and Echizen were in her direction. She felt a bit sad that Oishi wasn't here to curb the red-head.

"Eh, you really do look different in a dress!" Eiji-sempai persisted as the foursome walked home. "Umm, arigatou, sempai?" Momoshiro was grinning stupidly as well. "But it's so true!" He elbowed Echizen, who almost spilled his Fanta. "Eh, Echizen?" Echizen covered his face with his can as he took a sip. "Whatever." Momo frowned for a split second then said, "Echizen says you look good too."

Ryoma spat out his juice. "WHAT?!" Momo made a mocking face and fanned his hand at him. "It's okay, Echizen. You don't have to hide your true feel-" At that moment, an empty Fanta can was forcedly shoved into Momoshiro's mouth. "Augrff-ergh-eff!" He glared at Ryoma. "Effighen!" Momo was held back by Kikumaru, who said, "Nya! Violence is not the answer!" Kasumi sighed. To keep up with them all the time...

He let go of a now tired Momoshiro, who took the can out of his mouth. "But really, Eiji and I can turn the corner for some unknown reason and the only two left would be-" The sentence ended with a grunt, as Echizen hit Momoshiro on the head sharply. "Don't get cocky, sempai." Momo rubbed his head woefully. "Hey, it's an idea."

Upon returning home, Kasumi collapsed onto the closest sofa. "Tadaima…" she said weakly. Her grandfather walked into the living room holding a cup of tea. He set it down on the coffee table for Kasumi. "Okairi. It must've been some time if you're tired already." Kasumi sat up and claimed her tea. "I guess you can call it that." She chugged it greedily. Kyo smiled at his granddaughter's ferocity that only appears when the girl is fatigued. He then asked, "One of them is an Echizen, right?" Kasumi glanced at her grandfather. "How did you know?" The old man stared out the window and sighed. "He's got the eyes."

It had been a full month since Kasumi had arrived. Kasumi was getting used to Eiji-sempai's antics, Tezuka-buuchou's power, Momoshiro's attempts to hook her and Echizen up, Echizen's aloofness, Taka's split personalities, Kaidoh's hidden interest (although Kasumi had to swear not to tell anyone), and so on. Kasumi had put the arcade incident behind her, knowing that her sempai had done the same, and could now communicate with him easier.

The next match was coming, a mere four days away. "Here!" Momo Dunk Smash-ed the ball. Kasumi ran after it, but obviously could not return it. "Sempai!" she whined. Momoshiro laughed. "Gomen, gomen, but you're on a guy's team, so you've gotta be able to deal with a guy's power!" Kaidoh, overhearing this from his court, snorted. "Don't tell me you mean yourself." Momoshiro dropped his racket and made his way to Kaidoh. "You wanna fight, mamushi?!" Kaidoh too left his court and approached his opponent. "Let's go!" he growled.

"Minna!" Everyone turned. Tezuka stood there, looking unsatisfied. "The next match is in four days and you guys are fighting?" Kaidoh and Momoshiro looked down. "Sorry, buuchou." "And all of you," he said, indicating the other regulars, "You saw this happen, but you didn't bother stopping them?" No one answered. "Ten laps," he said loudly, "Now!" Mumbling, everyone began to sprint around the courts.

After that small warm-up, Inui had planned out another unconventional training exercise. He held two light blue balls in his hand. They were smaller than tennis balls. "Today's practice is to master control of any ball." He bounced one ball. It quickly bounced back up into his hand. "This is a regular handball, used in a different sport. It is a small, rubber ball filled with air. And this," he bounced the other one. It landed with a thud. The regulars shuddered. "This is a handball with a 1/4 kilogram weight in it." He bent down and picked up the ball.

"The goal is to simply return the ball to one another so that the ball has crossed the net twenty times." He took out his notebook. "The aggressive baseliners Kaidoh, Momoshiro, Kawamura, and myself to even it out, will be using the light ball. This is to make sure that you can apply enough of your strength on it so that it cannot go out." Inui turned the page. "The counter-punchers Fuji, Shitoyaka, Oishi, and Kikumaru will use the heavy ball." Inui cleared his throat. "Finally, the all-rounders Tezuka and Echizen will change the ball halfway through the exercise, after the ball has gone over the net ten times."

He went to his bag and took out a pitcher with a lid on it. "Whoever fails to reach these requirements will have a hearty cup of my still-to-be-tested Inui Universal Viscosity Max'd Platinum Charged Juice." The juice this time was not green. Instead, it sported a sickening shade of purple with a tinge of brown. Kasumi said under her breath, "Did the name just get longer?" "That question would come after we find out where he gets the names for these." Ryoma muttered back. Kasumi choked back a laugh, but she didn't know why. It wasn't funny, she thought, so why did I do that? She shook her head. She was thinking too deeply into it.

"Momoshiro Kawamura pair in court A. Kaidoh and I will go to court B." Momo turned to Kawamura. "Hey, don't kill me, okay?" Taka laughed nervously. "Kikumaru Oishi pair in court C. Fuji Shitoyaka pair in court D." Kasumi turned to Fuji. He smiled, as he usually did. "Pleasure to work with you." Kasumi smiled back. "You too, sempai." "And finally, Echizen and Tezuka-buuchou will wait until Momoshiro and Kawamura are done."

Echizen huffed at the fact that he would have to wait. He walked away to, as Kasumi probably knew by now, buy a Fanta. As he passed her, Kasumi discreetly slipped a coin to Echizen and gave him a look that said "Buy one for me too, please". He sighed. "Fine." Momo saw part of this process, and jumped to conclusions too quickly. "Nee, Echizen, why'd ya touch Shitoyaka's hand?" Echizen waved his free hand without looking back. "Who knows?" he said. Kasumi looked down. That answer didn't sound right at all.

Fuji and Kasumi entered the court. Kasumi held the heavy ball in her hand, but a hand gently was placed on her shoulder before she went to her court. Fuji had his hand outstretched to her. "I'll serve it first. It's a bit heavy." Kasumi hesitantly gave him the ball then went to the receiving position. "Ikuze." Fuji said kindly then bent back, threw the ball up, and served it.

--

Hi everyone! This is the first chapter I had to completely remake (after trying to delete a character). To be honest, the entire arcade plot was made very recently, so bear with it if it seems rushed. In order to make up for the lost character (a child prodigy), I decided to begin raising flags between the freshmen. Ahh, all we need is love, right?

This chapter came out nice and long (longest so far). I'm so happy. It'll give me a bit more time to remake chapter 11. Wish me luck!

MagoMago

PS. Readers, I'm curious. If I had not made a description of Kasumi at the very beginning, what do you think she'd look like?


	12. Chapter 11 : A Turn of Events

The ball came at an incredibly deep angle, dipping downwards earlier than both had anticipated. Kasumi ran to it and lobbed it. Her arm was taken aback by it, so she reinforced it with the other hand. It went up lower than she had wanted it to. So this is the purpose of this training, she thought. Fuji appeared in front of the ball's path. "Here it comes." he said casually, and smacked it. It moved normally this time. "Amazing, sempai. You got used to it already?" Kasumi said, backhanding it cross-court. Fuji nodded slightly, "Not fully, though. I just aim as if I intend to hit it higher than I plan." What a guy, she said to herself. "Then bear with me, sempai. I still have lots to work on." Kasumi had not intended it to sound like that. Fuji grinned a bit wider, if this is actually possible. "Is that so?"

After a good ten minutes, Fuji and Kasumi had finished their session. "Nee," Fuji said politely, "We should go to see if buu-chou and Echizen are still going." Kasumi was curious about this as well, and the two walked over to the designated court. Pock. Pock. Sure enough, the two were at it, seriously. "Echizen! You're getting sloppy!" Tezuka said as he hit the ball with a topspin. Echizen ran to it and hit it with his left.

"Ehh? O-chibi already got serious!" A familiar person said next to Kasumi. "Oh, hey Eiji-sempai." Kikumaru folded his arms and placed them on her head. Her body slumped to his weight, but she smiled anyway. Fuji turned to Oishi, who came as well. "How was your match, Oishi?" Fuji asked. "Well, nothing special. But I wouldn't say the same for Taka-san and Momo." Kasumi looked at Oishi. "What happened to sempai-tachi?" The vice captain looked around as if to see if anyone was eavesdropping, then said, "Taka hit the ball so hard that it broke Momo's racket. Inui counted that as failing to return the ball, and..." As if on cue, there were sickening gagging noises coming from the garbage cans.

Kikumaru pushed Kasumi's head lower. "Momo and Taka, ehh?" He looked down to Kasumi, who was strained, and said, "Thank goodness that kawaii-chibi-chan didn't miss Fuji's stuff, especially since Fuji's the kind of sadistic person who would ask Inui to drink the juice even when it's not necessary." "Eiji!" Oishi said sternly. Fuji just chuckled at the idea, because it could be of possible use in the future. "Nya, but it's true, isn't it, kawaii-chibi-chan?" Kasumi mumbled something that showed no agreement but no opposition. As she said that, Echizen called out "That's it, isn't it?" Tezuka stopped moving and stood. "Yeah, it is." Kasumi ducked her head down with disappointment. Why do I always miss the excitement?

In the end, the team had to carry Momo and Taka to their respective homes. "Sempai-tachi are really heavy." Kasumi commented when she, Kikumaru, and Fuji were carrying Momoshiro. "It's not like that." Fuji said softly, "They're just extremely and- if I may- almost unnaturally strong for their ages." This made Fuji-sempai sound old, Kasumi thought, bud did not question it. "I'm going now." she said instead Oishi, who was lugging Kawamura with Kaidoh and Inui, nodded. "Be careful!" Kasumi smiled. "Of course." Under her breath, she added "oka-san". She was about to head home, but she realized that she needed to buy groceries.

"Um, I think my grandfather wanted me to buy something at the store, so I'll come along." "YAY!" Kikumaru bear hugged her. "Kawaii-chibi-chan is staying! Nya" Kasumi wriggled briefly, before stopping once knowing it was hopeless to escape. "Eiji...sempai...can't breathe..." "Eiji!" Oishi said sternly as he usually did. "Aww." Kikumaru let go. Kasumi could have sworn that his hair drooped like a disappointed cat's ears. Kasumi laughed, and went ahead of them.

"Sempai…are… really, really heavy…" Kasumi huffed. It was moments like this where her body, which was built more for flexibility and speed, failed to aid her lack of strength. Oishi chuckled. "Okay, if you'd like, we can switch." Kasumi obeyed, switching from Momo's arm to Taka's shoulder. "Momo and Taka live in different directions, so we'll branch off from you guys now." Fuji said smiling. "Wahh! Goodbye, kawaii-chibi-chan!" Kikumaru exclaimed as the team holding Momo-chan-sempai turned away.

More people were supporting Kawamura, giving Kasumi less work. "They still didn't wake up yet…" Kasumi sad softly. "Hmm…" Inui released one of his hands' grasp to adjust the bridge of his glasses. "Perhaps the proportions of ingredients wasn't right…maybe if I put…" his mumbling became inaudible. "Fushuu… his house is around the corner…" "About time." Echizen scoffed.

"Oh, so that's what happened." Mr. Kawamura said, as the group relieved itself of Taka's body. "Mr. Kawamura has no work today?" Kasumi inquired. "Ah, no I don't. I closed the shop for a few days since I've been sneezing too much near the sushi." Kasumi looked saddened. Taka's father laughed. "Don't worry, kiddo. I'll be fine enough to make you guys a batch of sushi for your victory in four days, so do your best, okay?" She brightened up at the mention of sushi. "Hai!"

"KAWAII-CHIBI-CHANNNNNNN! You're BACK!" Kasumi braced herself, and put her arms in front of her. Sure enough, Kikumaru-sempai came towards her at break-neck speed. "Chi-chi's walking home with us again?" Chi-chi was using the first part of "chibi" twice. Kasumi slumped at how simple the name was. "It seems like it." Kasumi said. "Thank GOODNESS!" The redhead latched onto her back, but by now, Kasumi had become accustomed to it. "Hmph…" Echizen walked ahead.

"Oi! O-chibi! Wait!" With that, Kasumi began to struggle holding up the flailing sempai. "Eiji-sempai. Please…You're making it difficult to stay up…" Kikumaru jumped off and began to chase Echizen. "O-chibi! You have to wait for Chi-chi-chan!" "Ah! Hold on, sempai-" But by the time Kasumi called after them, they were gone. She sighed. "Geez."

"Tadaima…" Kasumi closed the door behind her. Oddly, no warm voice welcomed her back. "Grandfather?" She looked around. Not on the first floor. "Maybe upstairs?" Kasumi ascended up the stairs. Her grandfather's room's door was open when it usually sealed Kasumi away from her grandfather's world. Uncomfortable, Kasumi called out. "Hello?" The door creaked as it swung. Kasumi's expression changed to one of shock. Kyoumaru laid on the polished wood floor. "GRANDFATHER!"

"Will he be all right?" Kasumi asked the doctor, who resembled her professor in Germany slightly. He cleared his throat. "Well, it seems that he has gone through a heart attack. It's actually quite amazing that you found him fast enough for us to perform procedures before it was too late." Thank goodness, Kasumi thought. "But," Kasumi looked up at the doctor as he spoke again "He will need to stay here for a few weeks to recuperate. In that time, I believe that a child like you cannot stay at a home alone legally."

"Ah…" The man was right. "So I have to find another place to stay until he's better?" she asked. "Well, yes. But remember that this won't just take a week or two. He'll have to stay here for at least a month." Where will I go… Kasumi sat down and let her thoughts guide her. A white-clad woman entered the room. "Kasumi-chan. Visiting hours are over. You may stay in your house for today only. We wouldn't want you to get in trouble with the authorities and all." "…hai…"

The phone rang. Sumire grumbled. "Who calls at this time of night?" Nevertheless, she picked up. "Moshi moshi." "Ah! Coach Ryuuzaki!" The woman's eyes widened. "Kasumi?" Kasumi shifted on the other end. "Sensei…I need your help…"

"Wha… for me?" Ryoma tossed the phone at his lazy father. "What a brat…" Nanjirou commented before putting the phone on his ear. "What?" "Is that how you answer the phone now? You cocky bum." The senior samurai laid down on his back. "Tch. Like I have to listen to a old hag like you." Normally, he'd expect an explosion on the other end, but this didn't come. Instead, Ryuuzaki curtly said "That's not important right now."

This reply surprised him. "Well, what do you want, then?" he asked. "… do you remember Shitoyaka?" "Him? Of course. He and I used to be close, ever since we were in Seigaku." "You know her daughter then?" "I stopped keeping in touch with his family after he and I quit the pro circuit…" He then got curious. "Why are you asking me all of this?"

"Good morning, Chi-chi!" Kikumaru waved his arms at her. She gave a weak smile and continued. "Oi, Chi-chi. Something about you today makes me…sad." With that, his hair drooped slightly. "Oh…sorry, sempai. I'm just…a bit tired." Oishi looked at her worriedly, and she tried to reassure him. "Echizen! Go cheer her up!" Momo called from afar. "Don't want to." "But that's so rude! You should-" "Momo-chan-sempai." Kasumi interrupted. "Just…stop. I'm fine."

"Kasumi! I need to talk to you for a second." Sumire said, revealing her presence. "Coming…" Kasumi followed her until the two were a good distance from the rest of the team. "I called up some people I knew to accommodate you, since my apartment can barely support one person, yet alone two." Kasumi gulped. "Meaning I'm staying with a stranger?" she asked quietly.

"Don't worry! This guy may be a retarded, arrogant, perverted fool, but he and his family will take good care of you until your grandfather gets better." The description didn't help Kasumi at all. "Anyway," Ryuuzaki continued, "after school, bring out your things and wait for my car to pick you up. I'll drop you off at your temporary place." "Okay…" "Cheer up! You're getting the others suspicious of your odd behavior!" Kasumi perked up. "Get back to practice. Give it your all!"

"Tadaima…" Ryoma called as he slid the door shut behind him. "Oi, kid." His father said. "Hm? Well isn't this rare. You never start conversations with me." Nanjiro head-locked him. "Hey, hey. That makes me sound like a bad person, boy." "You ARE a bad per- augh!" The grip tightened. "What are you talking about?" he said through gritted teeth. The father and son struggled for a while until the former released the latter's head.

"Anyway, there's someone that's staying at our place for a while." Nanjiro continued, "Don't embarrass yourself…or more importantly, me." "Tch." Ryoma rubbed his neck. "Whatever."

Coach Ryuuzaki's car came half an hour after Kasumi had arrived home. Luckily, Kasumi packed her bags the night before. "Is that everything?" Sumire asked as she heaved Kasumi's suitcase into the trunk. "Yeah." Kasumi said, although she wasn't sure. What does a kid being moved out of her house bring along? "Get in." Ryuuzaki said, breaking Kasumi's train of thought, "The house is pretty close to here."

"We're here." Kasumi gasped. It's that temple from before, she thought. Ryuuzaki helped her with her luggage to the door, then said, "I have a staff meeting at Seigaku, so I'll be taking off now." "Thanks for everything." Kasumi managed to say. The coach smiled.

Kasumi stood in front of the door. Her heart was pounding. Would these people really be okay? But she remembered Karupin and the nice lady that would thank her. It couldn't be too bad, right? Exhaling, Kasumi rang the doorbell. She heard footsteps coming towards the door just before it opened. "Ah!" Kasumi's eyes widened.

"ECHIZEN-SEMPAI?"


	13. Chapter 12: Discovery

"Ah! Shitoyaka…" Ryoma trailed off in surprise.

Kasumi regained her composure. After taking a deep breath, she asked, "Can I come in?" Ryoma shook his head quickly. "Oh right, sure."

He opened the door wider. Hesitantly, Kasumi stepped in. "Uh…you can put your shoes there…"

"Oi, boy!" Nanjiroh came down the stairs. "Who was at the door- ooh," his gaze went from Ryoma to Kasumi. He covered his mouth and latched his arm around his son. "Well, well, well," he whispered, "So you finally got a girl, eh? You've got good taste, kid." Ryoma sighed. "It's useless trying to argue with you, but she's not my-" "Don't be shy!" Nanjiroh exclaimed. He then drew Ryoma closer with a headlock. "After all, she's real cute." "I don't think you're getting what I'm trying to sa-"

"E-excuse me." The two turned to see that Kasumi and her luggage. Nanjiroh let go of Ryoma and took her bags. "Here," he said cheerily, "let me take care of these…" "Kasumi. Shitoyaka Kasumi." Nanjiroh froze. "Shitoyaka…" After a pause, he turned towards the stairs. "I'll take your stuff to your room, Kasumi-chan." He called over his shoulder. When he was out of range, he whispered to himself, "So she's Shitoyaka's kid. Who would've guessed that they looked so much alike…?"

"Kasumi-chan, have another bowl of rice." Ryoma's mother urged. "Ah…" Before she could do anything, Kasumi found a helping of rice materialize in front of her. "Th…thank you." The Echizen men ate rather quickly, and Kasumi found that only she and Ryoma's mother were left.

"So your grandfather got a heart attack?" she asked Kasumi. "Yeah…" "Oh, you poor thing. Don't worry about troubling us while you're here, dear. Make yourself at home." Kasumi looked from her bowl and saw that she was warmly smiling. That smile made her heart ache. She quickly dropped her head and mumbled "thank you". "You know, chance is a really strange thing." "Huh?" Kasumi looked up to see Mrs. Echizen looking at her with tender eyes.

"Oh, don't mind me," she laughed, "I was just thinking aloud." "No, please, I'm interested to hear." Kasumi insisted. "Well," Ryoma's mother put her hand to her cheek, "think about it for a moment. You just happened to come to the same town in Japan as one of your father's friends, and happened to know his former coach. Not only that, you happened to know his son, who's the same age as you, and now you happen to be staying here." She closed her eyes. "It's almost as if… as if fate wanted you to be here." Kasumi stared into her rice bowl. "Maybe."

"Maow!" Karupin exclaimed, jumping onto Kasumi's lap. "Karupin!" She scratched behind his ear. He let out a great purr. "How did you know this was my room?" she said jokingly, kissing the cat's forehead. "So you know Karupin?" Kasumi turned to find Ryoma at the doorway. Suddenly, a wave of embarrassment came over her as she felt her ears turn pink. "Yeah, I guess you can say that." She replied shakily, gently lifting the feline off of her lap and onto the floor as she stood from her newly acquired bed. Karupin instinctively ran to Ryoma, rubbing himself on his owner's legs.

"I heard from my mom why you're staying here." Kasumi looked at her feet. "Yeah…" "You'll get over it." She looked up at her sempai questioningly. His back was already turned. "Sometimes it's better to forget the consequences and just live in the moment." With that, he left. Kasumi felt her heart flutter. Something about what he said, or how he said it, or even why he said it, had touched her deeply. She stood at the doorway a bit dazed, then bowed to Ryoma, who had already gone.

Kasumi woke up to a whiskered nose on her face and paws on her chest. She opened her eyes to find Karupin staring down at her. "Maow." She slowly got up, giving Karupin time to jump off of her. "Good morning, Karupin." She grumbled, rubbing her eye. "Maoww." Karupin rubbed himself on Kasumi's legs. She laughed, petting his fur vigorously until he shook himself to maintain his fluff. After stretching her arms out and letting out a formidable yawn, Kasumi stood up and looked out the window. The sun had risen over the temple's landscape, and everything was tinted with a golden glow. "How pretty." She said to no one in particular, just before she went to find the bathroom.

"Yo." Kasumi entered the bathroom to see that Ryoma was already there, brushing his teeth. "Ohayo." She said, taking the half-crumpled tube of toothpaste. Soon enough, both of them were brushing away in front of the bathroom mirror over the sink. Then, Kasumi spat into the sink first. Looking around, she took a cup near a soap bottle and filled it from the faucet before commencing to rinse. When she had finished, Ryoma spat as well. He took the cup out of Kasumi's hand and rinsed with the leftover water. "E-Echizen-sempai…!" She stuttered awkwardly. He put the cup back in its place. After he wiped his mouth with a towel, he said, "Water's water."

"Kasumi-chan, are you going with Ryoma-kun to the park?" Mrs. Echizen asked, picking up the breakfast plate on the dinner table. "Oh, no," Kasumi said rather quickly, "I think I'll stay here." She heard shuffling behind her as Echizen-sempai put on his shoes and took his tennis bag. "Are you sure, dear? Today's such a nice Saturday." That was true. The sky was perfectly blue; not a single blemish of cloud existed in Kasumi's vision. "I'm sure." She said finally, putting her glass of juice down.

"I'm going now." Ryoma called out behind him as he closed the door shut. His heart was pumping loudly for some reason. He could vaguely remember the circumstances that brought Kasumi to his house, and part of him was restless. Ryoma couldn't keep calm with her around. That stunt he pulled off in the bathroom was totally uncalled for, but he couldn't remember thinking it over before doing it. He sighed, pulled the rim of his cap down, and started walking to the park. Maybe a few hours of rallying with a wall would calm his nerves.

Kasumi found herself exploring the Echizen household, cautiously entering every room and examining as much as she thought was not privacy-invading. Eventually, she found herself in the Echizen's parent bedroom. Kasumi, who didn't want to intrude here long, quickly scanned the room for anything of interest or worthy note. Her search yielded her an aged leather volume on a desk near a closet. Gingerly, she tiptoed to it, heaved it into her arms, and crept out of the room.

"ACHOO!" The dust had rushed to her face at break-neck speed once she set it down on her lap. Kasumi shook her head violently then went back to the volume. Apparently, it was a photo album. It couldn't have been that old, and yet it was in poor condition, as if it was opened up many times. The volume's spine sighed as Kasumi lifted the front cover. The pages were yellowing and it reeked from neglect. But Kasumi wasn't interested in those. Her eyes snapped to a sepia photograph glued to the center of the page.

In it were a large group of boys standing in neat rows. They were all wearing sports uniforms, but the very first row wore something familiar. "Seigaku…" she breathed. Sure enough, the backdrop was a tennis court. Kasumi shifter her attention to where the coach stood. When it came to old photographs, Kasumi was skilled at identifying people by their nose and face shape. Though it took a bit more effort than usual, she finally realized that the coach was no other than Coach Ryuuzaki.

Kasumi then scanned the boys. All of their faces were brimming with youth and sheepishness. Her sight locked on a pair of sharp eyes. There stood a younger version of Nanjiroh, his grin plastered over half his face. One arm was pointed towards the camera with a proud peace sign, and the other was hooked around another boy's neck. Another boy… "Dad…" Kasumi whispered. He looked so carefree, his arm hooked around Nanjiroh. She could almost hear the laughing coming out from his open mouth, and see the two pushing each other this way and that. She slid her finger over the handwritten caption "Seigaku Tennis Team". Such a perfect moment captured in time… "Oh, dad…" she said again. Her vision began to blur.

"He was a great person." Kasumi spun her head so quickly it could've snapped her neck off. Nanjiroh stood a few paces away from her, arms crossed and leaning his back on a wall. "Mr. Echizen…" "Ha, just call me Nanjiroh. That's what he…" He closed his eyes. "That's what he used to call me, anyway." Kasumi looked back down to the photo. Though it was faded, in her eyes it was alive. "Mr. Nanjiroh?" The man tilted his head. "Hn?" Kasumi put her hand over the page. "My dad… what was he like in school?"

He finally got off the wall. "Oh, boy. What he was like," he said, chuckling a little, "He and I were complete opposites." Kasumi looked at him questioningly. She saw that Nanjiroh was looking up, but somehow knew that he was seeing past the ceiling. "Your dad… Kentarou, he was probably the most insanely devoted student you'd ever meet." He shook his head. "It's amazing he actually found time in his packed schedule for tennis."

Nanjiroh sat next to Kasumi, leaned back, and sighed. "He was really smart. No one could deny that. But not in a nerdy way, oh no. He was such a role model. Perfect grades, good sense of humor, a soft heart to boot. And he was pretty good-looking too." He smiled. "Just look at that photograph. Isn't he a girl's dream boy?" It was awkward thinking about her dad that way, but when she looked again, she realized that her father was rather attractive as a teen. His dark brown hair, deep eyes and fit physique could've probably swept any girl off her feet. "But he wasn't that way. He was always looking above and beyond. He wanted to get a scholarship overseas in America, you know? Started working on that dream in junior high. What a guy." Kasumi swelled with pride. "Yeah… what a guy…"

"The funny thing is," Nanjiroh continued, "if it weren't for tennis, I would've never met your dad. You see, it was sort of an accident on how he went on to join Seigaku's tennis team." Kasumi was surprised again. This was the first time she'd heard a lot of this.

"Like I said, your dad and I were complete opposites. Yet we managed to land the same homeroom second year. The best straight-A student and the lazy failing slacker, teachers are bound to pair those two up in hopes of improvement. Well, I wouldn't do that willingly, of course. Ken didn't like the idea of setting precious time that could be used for studying aside for a hopeless dolt like me either. But one way or another, we had to help each other, so I struck a deal." Nanjiroh straightened up, put his hands behind his head, and leaned back again.

"I was pretty jealous about how the girls loved Ken, but he ignored them. I wanted to best him at something, so I challenged him to tennis. That's the only thing I'm good at, haha…" His laugh was laced with bitterness. "Well, to my surprise, he was better than I thought he'd be. In fact, that was better than half the regular team in the tennis club. I told him his talent shouldn't be wasted when he was in the prime of his youth and all. Besides, colleges look for extra-curricular activities, right? He was pretty set on not going, but I won him over eventually. I just wanted him to try it: to see what he was missing out on."

"So I finally got him to go one day. He was pretty sour about it too. 'I could be doing something more productive right now.' Productive? Please. Sports are as productive as you'll ever get. Anyway, I told the old hag that he was a real find. She always has an open mind about this kind of stuff. Naturally, she asked me to prove it. He didn't disappoint me either. I guess his brainy competitive edge came out in his play. But when all was said and done, he still didn't want to join the team!" Nanjiroh shook his head again. "How did I ever keep up with that jerk…" Kasumi laughed a bit. Nanjiroh looked at her, and smiled.

"I don't know why, but the next day, he came to practice. 'Just because I'm not on the team doesn't mean I can't play tennis here.' Snob. I knew he was bluffing; he had a hidden passion for tennis. Anyway, I guess from there he began to love the team and moved up to be a regular like me. But," Nanjiroh crossed his arms again and smirked, "I was always the better one." Kasumi couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Echizen." Nanjiroh snapped out of his universe. "Oh, no problem," he said, "You deserve to know."

"Kasumi!" Echizen's mom called. "Yes?" Kasumi came down the stairs immediately. "I forgot to give Ryoma the grocery list, and he probably didn't take his phone with him. Can you go to the supermarket and pick these up for me?" She handed Kasumi a crumpled paper and a few bills. "Sure thing." Kasumi replied.

At the supermarket, Kasumi made quick work of the list, choosing the best of each item she could find. "Let's see… peppers…" Kasumi knew those were supposed to be right in front of her, so she reached out while still reading the list. Instead of the cool, smooth surface of a pepper, she felt a hand. "Oh!" Kasumi withdrew her hand in shock, and looked up.

"Oh, Kasumi-chan. Konnichiwah." Syuusuke greeted her warmly. "Fuji-sempai!" She stumbled with surprise. "So you're grocery shopping too?" "Uh, yeah." "I didn't know Kasumi-chan liked these peppers too." Fuji picked one up and tossed it gently in the air. "They really pack a punch in anything. Haha…" Kasumi shuttered. She could only imagine the true nature of that pepper. She put a few of them in a plastic bag, certain that it was about half a pound.

"Ah, I should finish up here and go home now," Fuji said, sighing. "Is something wrong?" Kasumi inquired. He chuckled softly. "It's my sister. See, she's been doing strange things lately…" "Fuji-sempai has a sister?" Syuusuke turned to Kasumi. "I have two, actually: one's blood related and the other's adopted. The latter's name is Kairi." "Kairi…" Kasumi gasped. "Is she from an orphanage in this town?" Fuji wondered why Kasumi was getting so worked up. "Yeah, she is. Why do you-" Kasumi then grabbed his hand.

"Can I come over tomorrow?"

* * *

**Author's note: **Hey guys, it's been over a year since I last updated. Because of that, this chapter has the most words by far. Thanks to everyone who has subscribed/alerted my story. I'm sure the turnout for this chapter will be a test of loyalty from you guys, and I'm aware that some of my readers may have forgotten about this story. But thanks to whoever does come. I hope you'll have the patience for the next chapter.

Oh, and this is a bridge to Kikuji-chan's "It'll Be Alright, You'll See" story. I strongly suggest going to her page. She updates more than I ever will, haha... Well, go check out that story, because Kasumi is going to take a little "visit" there...

Mada minu ashita ni~

_-MagoMago_


	14. Chapter 13: Revenge's Sweeter w Friends

"Let's see…where is it…" Kasumi knitted her brow as she stared at the back of a grocery receipt with Fuji-sempai's address hastily scribbled on the back. Being the flexible person he was, he didn't mind giving it to her, but Kasumi wasn't so great at directions, especially since she hadn't strayed far from the route from home to school before. Nevertheless, Kasumi walked in the Sunday sun alone.

In her thought, Kasumi bumped into someone. "Oof!" She stepped back, then looked up. It was a boy a bit older than her. He had wavy, blue, shoulder-length hair. A green headband covered his forehead. "Oh, sorry about that." She said, nodding her head slightly. "Ah, don't worry about it. I should've been looking at where I was going, too." He smiled and walked away from her.

Kasumi suddenly had an idea. Why not follow this person? Who knows, he may lad her closer to Fuji-sempai's address. She glanced behind her. Hw was already a good distance behind her as he turned a corner. "Yosh." She said to herself as she quietly strolled behind him.

The boy seemed a bit nervous, Kasumi noted. Although he appeared calm, his legs were stiff as he walked. But he knew where he was going, and Kasumi knew that she didn't. After a few blocks, he walked onto the front steps of a house. Kasumi quickly hid behind a nearby bush. The door opened. Kasumi's eyes widened as she saw Fuji-sempai. "How may I help you, Yukimura-san?" The boy smiled back. "Is your sister there?"

Then, a girl's head popped up over Fuji's shoulder. "I'm right here, Seiichi." She turned to Fuji-sempai. "Syuu-nii, why don't you invite him in? Come on…" she tugged his arm. The boy walked in, and the door shut behind him. Kasumi let out a breath. It really was her… "Kairi"…

"Hey, otou-shan?" Five-year-old Kasumi said as she grabbed her father's thick index finger as they walked down the unfamiliar streets of Tokyo. "Yes, Kasumi-chan?" He looked down at her. She waddled to keep up to him, her little pigtails shaking every step of the way. "Where are we going?" He smiled. She was a sharp kid. "We're going to an orphanage."

"What's an or-fan-idge?" Kasumi asked, hopping over a gutter as they crossed the street. "It's where kids go when they don't have their mommies and daddies." He calmly explained. Kasumi looked at the pavement as she thought hard to process the concept. "Is it like a nanny?" Kentarou let out a laugh. He then gracefully scooped up his daughter and carried her in a cradling position. "No, Kasumi-chan. An orphanage is a place, not a person."

They entered a building that had a run-down wooden door. "Welcome. You must be Shitoyaka Kentarou." The woman at the desk bowed her head. "We're more than grateful for having you here at our orphanage." Kasumi was gently put back on her feet. "Ah, please, there's no need for the formalities," he replied, "After all, these kids are all meant for better things."

Kasumi followed her father into a room down the hallway. A group of kids sat cross-legged on the rug, watching the two enter. Behind them were a bunch of people with big cameras and business wear. Kasumi hid behind Kentarou's leg. He patted her head, making her pigtails move once again. He then turned to the other children. "Hi, everyone. I'm Shitoyaka, Kentarou. I'm an international tennis player." He then flashed a smile. "Do any of you know me?"

After talking for a good hour, Kentarou sat at a table with a crowd of adults. "Why don't you talk to the other kids here while I do this, Kasumi-chan?" he had asked her. "Okay." Little Kasumi hopped off the chair next to her father and walked to the rug.

She sat down next to a girl with light blue hair. In fact, Kasumi was afraid she was some sort of ghost because it was very close to white. "Um, konnichiwah." She stuttered. The girl turned to her. Her eyes were a brilliant lavender color. "Konnichiwah." She said with a gentle voice.

Kasumi felt that the conversation died. But her dad had told her to talk to others, so she persisted. "My name is Shitoyaka, Kasumi. What's yours?" The girl tilted her head slightly and smiled gracefully. "I'm Kairi." Kasumi felt inferior in her presence.

"So, do you know anything about tennis?" she tried. The seemingly fragile girl nodded. "We don't get to watch TV that often here, but when we do, I enjoy watching it. Though," she laughed with a bit of sadness, "I can't say that I know how to play." "Ah, no, there's nothing to it, really!" Kasumi said. She didn't want her new acquaintance to be sad. "It's just running around with a racket hitting a ball. Anyone can play!"

"Alright, Kasumi-chan. Daddy's finished." Kentarou called out as he stood from the table. After glancing around, he found his daughter's pigtails amongst the children heads. "Kasumi-chan…" he called again. Kasumi turned around. He waved at her in a way that told her it was time to get going. Kasumi looked back at Kairi-chan. "I have to go now, Kairi-chan. Matta nee!" Kairi grinned widely. "Jyaa, 'Sumi-chan."

Kasumi exhaled shakily as she stood in front of the Fuji residence. "Alright, Kasumi, look calm… calm…" She steadied her breath then pressed the doorbell. _Ding-dong_. She heard footsteps. The doorknob quickly turned and the door swung open.

Sure enough, it was Kairi-chan, her friend she had met at that orphanage so many years ago. Her hair was longer than it was back then, but the shade of blue was unmistakable. Her lavender eyes widened with surprise and shock. Kasumi quickly noted that Kairi was much taller than herself.

"Konnichiwah." Kasumi said calmly, betraying her actual feelings at the moment. Kairi finally regained her posture. "What are you doing here?!" She exclaimed. Kasumi quietly said to herself, "Is that really a way to greet your childhood friend?" At that moment, Kasumi found herself wrapped in Kairi's arms. She really did get tall. Kairi was actually bending over to hug Kasumi.

Despite that, Kasumi said, "You haven't changed a bit" to her. After the impromptu embrace, Fuji peered over his sister's shoulder. "Ah, Kasumi-chan, welcome." The one in-between tilted her head backwards. "You know 'Sumi-chan, Syuu-nii?" Kasumi took this opportunity to walk past the door well, saying "Yes, apparently we are all familiar with each other." Her old friend grinned sheepishly. "No, we're not. You haven't met Seiichi yet." She then skipped away to the living room. Kasumi muttered "How to keep track of all these new people…"

Before she could finish her rambling, Kairi returned, dragging a teen with blue, shoulder-length hair. He was probably the same age as Fuji-sempai. Before Kasumi could ask, Kairi piped up, "Seiichi, 'Sumi-chan. 'Sumi-chan, Seiichi. And now I'm done." With that, she applauded at her work and smiled. "Seiichi" then gave Kasumi a kind look. He offered his hand to her. "Yukimura, Seiichi." Kasumi, relieved by the normality, took his hand and replied formally, "Shitoyaka, Kasumi. It's a pleasure."

At that, the bubbly one broke the silence. "Neh, 'Sumi-chan, why are you always so polite?" Kasumi, in a cold, calculated matter, retorted, "Kairi-chan, why are you so out of character today?" Kairi was caught off guard. "Out…of…oh." Kasumi felt a small wave of regret, but it vanished when she told herself that Kairi was acting a bit odd. Kairi put her hand to her head in thought. "I wonder…" she said to no one in particular before proceeding to climb up the stairs in a daze. The three tennis team players were left in the hallway in utter silence.

"Well," Kasumi exhaled, taking initiative in this rather uncomfortable atmosphere, "That was rather awkward…" Fuji moved his head slightly in agreeal. Yukimura let out a sigh. "Kairi, come down. We still have a date to go on, don't we?" Another boy's head popped up, looking down the stairs. "Kai-nee-san is in her room. I'll get her." He called back before disappearing as well. "Oh, boy." Kasumi sighed. This was going to be a long day. Fuji chuckled to himself.

After returning from that random leave, Kairi came down

Yukimura and Fuji walked behind the two girls who were talking quietly to eachother. Something about fighting and flipping people. Kairi's laugh suddenly broke through and Fuji asked her what was so funny. Kairi smiled, "'Sumi-chan was telling me about how she flipped that guy, you know uhmm…the one who curls his hair with his finger like a sissy?" Fuji laughed, "Oh really?" Then the both of them suddenly smiled darkly, "Perfect blackmail material…" Kasumi tilted her head in a questioning manner before continuing to walk. The two girls went back to their conversation and the boys to their silence. Not long after the group ventured into the zoo. There was a new petting zoo opening and they were going to visit. "I wonder what animals are going to be there…" Kasumi murmured to herself. Suddenly she found herself walking into Kairi's still form. Kasumi peered around Kairi's form to see a boy that resembled a skater boy in some ways. He had his arm around another girl, about Kasumi's height. Judging from Kairi's reaction Kasumi knew that this boy had done something to hurt her friend. "Shitoyaka-san," Kasumi turned to Yukimura, "that's the boy who…let's just say he isn't exactly on Kairi's list of respected people anymore." Kasumi turned back to Kairi, "Kairi-chan, I think I've found a perfect subject for demonstrating purposes for what I was talking to you about earlier." Kairi glanced at Kasumi, confused for a moment, and then her eyes lit up and a slow smile spread across her face, "Really 'Sumi-chan?" Kasumi nodded.

~Ren's POV~

While I was walking through the petting zoo with Yuuki – I have no idea why she wanted to come here anyway – I noticed Kairi standing off to the side with a bunch of people. I recognized one as her brother and the other as the captain of Rikkai's tennis team, but I couldn't recall having ever met the last one. It was a girl who I noticed happened to be walking straight at me with Kairi not far behind. As she got closer I glanced over her and noted that she wasn't that bad looking. I took my arm off of Yuuki and greeted the girl. "Why hello." She didn't reply, instead she held out a hand. I raised an eyebrow but grabbed her hand anyway. She turned her head and smiled at Kairi, "Okay Kairi-chan? And then you.." The girl placed her other hand on my upper arm and I blanked, what was she—

BAM

~Normal POV~

Kasumi felt her inner sadist overjoyed as Ren flew in a perfect arc to the ground. With a grotesque squishing sound, he landed in a pig pen that was almost perfectly set up there. "Uhgnn," he grunted painfully. Yuuki squeaked, covering her mouth and nose with her hands. After examining his situation – and laughing uncontrollably on the inside – Kairi offered her hand to Ren. Dizzy and incapable of reasonable thought, the poor soul accepted her gesture, tightening his fingers around her palm. With a grin of malice, Kairi called over to her childhood friend, "Like this?" She turned so that Ren's arm was now over her shoulder, his arm twisted very unnaturally. Fear emulated from his frightened eyes, but that would not save him from his imminent fate. Ren went face-first into another brown pile in the pigpen. The pigs squealed with curiosity and started to sniff at him. After struggling with the oink-ing pink animals, he stood up. A mound of "dirt" slid off of his shirt. "That's not quite how I did it but it works just as well." Kasumi let out her laughter. Then she walked to where the stained boy stood and said, "I hope you think twice before messing with my friends again."

~Author's note~

Wow, usually I update during the summer, right? Well here's a treat: because it's Valentine's Day on the SAME day as Lunar New Year, I thought I should UPDATE! WOAH!

(Serichu, I managed to make this thing 4 pages long. Not bad, eh?)


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